Enos (died November 4, 1962) was the second

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...

launched into space by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

. He was the first and only

, and third

hominid The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the ...

after

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...

and Gherman Titov, to orbit the Earth. Enos's flight occurred on November 29, 1961. Enos was brought from the Miami Rare Bird Farm on April 3, 1960. He completed more than 1,250 training hours at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

and Holloman

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

Base. Training was more intense for him than for his predecessor Ham, who had become the first great ape in space in January 1961, because Enos was exposed to

weightlessness Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G. Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...

and higher ''g''s for longer periods of time. His training included psychomotor instruction and aircraft flights. Enos was selected for his

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

flight only three days before launch. Two months prior,

launched

Mercury-Atlas 4 Mercury-Atlas 4 was an uncrewed spaceflight of the Mercury program. It was launched on September 13, 1961, at 14:09 UTC from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. A Crewman Simulator instrument package was aboard. The craft orbited the ...

on September 13, 1961, to conduct an identical mission with a "crewman simulator" on board. Enos flew into space aboard

Mercury-Atlas 5 Mercury-Atlas 5 was an American spaceflight of the Mercury program. It was launched on November 29, 1961, with Enos, a chimpanzee, aboard. The craft orbited the Earth twice and splashed down about south of Bermuda, and Enos became the first p ...

on November 29, 1961. He completed his first orbit in 1 hour and 28.5 minutes.Animals In Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle, Chris Dubbs and Colin Burgess, 2007 Enos was scheduled to complete three orbits, but the mission was aborted after two due to two issues: capsule overheating and a malfunctioning "avoidance conditioning" test subjecting the primate to 76 electrical shocks. The capsule was brought aboard in the late afternoon and Enos was immediately taken below deck by his Air Force handlers. ''Stormes'' arrived in Bermuda the next day. Enos's flight was a full dress rehearsal for the next Mercury launch on February 20, 1962, which would make

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...

the first American to orbit Earth, after astronauts Alan Shepard, Jr. and Gus Grissom's successful suborbital space flights. On November 4, 1962, Enos died of

shigellosis Shigellosis is an infection of the intestines caused by '' Shigella'' bacteria. Symptoms generally start one to two days after exposure and include diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and feeling the need to pass stools even when the bowels are ...

-related

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

, which was resistant to then-known antibiotics. He was constantly observed for two months before his death. Pathologists reported no symptoms that could be attributed or related to his previous space flight.

References

External links

''Enos the Chimpanzee travels to space on NASA's Mercury Atlas 5 1960'', YouTube video"Voyage of space chimpanzee Enos ended in Bermuda" by Gail Westerfield
* *
''One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps'', documentary on history of chimpanzees used in space travel
Atlantic.com article about electrical shocks

MentalFloss.com on 54th anniversary of flight {{Apes 1962 animal deaths 1961 in spaceflight Animals in space Deaths from dysentery Individual chimpanzees Project Mercury Year of birth missing Place of birth missing

See also

References

External links