Object Details
- Manufacturer
- McDonnell Aircraft Corp.
- Summary
- Prior to the flights of astronauts in Project Mercury, the first U.S. human spaceflight program, chimpanzees were used to better understand the effects of acceleration and weightlessness. Instead of a spacesuit, these chimps had a pressurized capsule that allowed them to breathe even in case of a failure of spacecraft cabin pressure. The chimp was strapped into a retaining harness inside the capsule and had to operate a system of levers and lights to test its reactions to flight. It was rewarded with banana pellets or a drink of water, or punished with mild electrical shocks, for taking the right or wrong actions.
- This primate capsule is installed in the spacecraft launched on the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, but was not used for the chimpanzee "Ham" on that flight, which took place on January 31, 1961. NASA transferred this capsule, installed in the MR-2 spacecraft, to the Smithsonian in 1967.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from NASA Manned Spacecraft Center.
- Inventory Number
- A19680268000
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Crewed-Test Vehicles
- Materials
- Aluminum and Fiberglass
- Dimensions
- Overall: 40 in. tall x 20 in. wide x 16 in. long (101.6 x 50.8 x 40.64cm)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19680268000
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9cadd7121-e921-46a8-8ad4-ba9bf3d29498
