Results of the Project Mercury Ballistic-and Orbital Chimpanzee Flights

This publication presents a full account of the flights of the Project Mercury chimpanzees, from program planning through launch and recovery operations. A detailed account of training techniques, in-flight measurements, and post- flight evaluation procedures is given. The suborbital ballistic flight of “Ham” on January 31,1961, was the prelude to Alan B. Shepard’s suborbital space flight, while the orbital flight of “Enos” on November 29, 1961, preceded the flight of Astronaut John H. Glenn.