Enos,na five-year-old chimpanzee, wasn’t the first animal to orbit thenEarth. That honor belongs to a Soviet dog named Laika, who wasnlaunched and achieved orbit in 1957. (It is a dubious honor, sincenLaika wasn’t expected to survive and indeed did die in orbit. Still,nRussian officials recently unveiled a monument to Laika, who was anstray dog that Soviet scientists found and trained for spaceflight;nmany stray dogs no doubt have shorter lives and worse deaths.)
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Enosnalso wasn’t the first animal to be launched into space by U.S.nscientists. In 1947 scientists launched fruit flies into space, andnthese insects survived cosmic radiation and other spaceflightnconditions.
Enosnalso wasn’t the first animal to be launched into space by U.S.nscientists. In 1947 scientists launched fruit flies into space, andnthese insects survived cosmic radiation and other spaceflightnconditions.n
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nEnosnwasn’t even the first chimp in space! That honor goes to Ham, who wasnlaunched into a sub-orbital spaceflight in 1961. He wasn’t just anpassenger; he pushed levers as he had been trained to do—and he wasnonly a smidge slower than usual, down on Earth, so he proved thatnhumans could perform tasks on a spaceflight.
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nNo,nEnos wasn’t the first this or that or this other, but he was thenfirst animal to achieve orbit on a U.S. spacecraft, and he was thenfirst ever chimpanzee to achieve orbit.
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Enosnhad more than 1,250 hours of training for his flight, includingnaircraft flights on which he encountered a certain amount of gnforce. And on this date in 1961, Enos flew into space on boardnMercury Atlas 5. He was to complete three orbits.
Enosnhad more than 1,250 hours of training for his flight, includingnaircraft flights on which he encountered a certain amount of gnforce. And on this date in 1961, Enos flew into space on boardnMercury Atlas 5. He was to complete three orbits.n
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nEnosnand the Mercury spacecraft completed the first orbit in one hour andn28 seconds. They completed a second orbit, but they were then broughtnback to Earth because the spacecraft was not maintaining altitude asnit should.
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nEnosnhad a luckier ending than poor Laika. He survived splashdown and,nwhen removed from his capsule, rescuers say that he jumped for joynand ran around the deck of the recovery ship, shaking their hands. n
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Here’s an old movie clip about Enos and his flight. Unfortunately, wenhave no film of a joyful Enos shaking people’s hands.
Here’s an old movie clip about Enos and his flight. Unfortunately, wenhave no film of a joyful Enos shaking people’s hands. n
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nThis much longer movie about chimp astronauts doesn’t focus on Enos atnall, but gives you a good idea of what training he had to undergo.
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nAlsonon this date:
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Physicist Christian Doppler’s birthday
Physicist Christian Doppler’s birthday n
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nClassified Day
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nClassified Day
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nAuthor Louisa May Alcott’s birthday
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nAuthor Louisa May Alcott’s birthday
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