The closed-loop abort system sensed a change in engine chamber pressure when the LOX supply was depleted and fired the launch escape system. At 2 minutes 17 seconds into the flight, the Redstone's liquid oxygen (LOX) fuel was depleted. At two minutes, the computers predicted a 17 g (167 m/s²) acceleration. One minute after the launch, computers reported that the flight path angle was at least one degree too high and rising. The countdown was then delayed almost four hours because of a hot inverter, and several other minor problems.Īt 16:55 UTC the MR-2 lifted off. He was 3 years 8 months old at launch.Īt 12:53 UTC, January 31, 1961, Ham was inserted into the spacecraft. 65) and was purchased by the USAF July 9, 1959. Ham was from Cameroon, Africa, (original name Chang, Chimp No. Ham was named in honor of Holloman Aerospace Medical Center. The competition was fierce, but Ham was full of energy and good humor. The day before the flight, two chimpanzees were chosen for the mission: one primary, Ham, and one backup, a female chimpanzee named Minnie. The six chimpanzees were trained in Mercury simulators for three weeks. Six chimpanzees (four female and two male) and 20 medical specialists and animal handlers from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, where the chimpanzees lived and were trained, were moved into quarters behind Hangar S at Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 2, 1961. 5 contained six new systems that had not been on previous flights: environmental control system, attitude stabilization control system, live retrorockets, voice communications system, "closed loop" abort sensing system, and a pneumatic landing bag. Ham before the launch of Mercury-Redstone 2
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