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| GORDO launch cover with Goldcraft cachet, postmarked Port Canaveral, December 13, 1958. |
A primate squirrel monkey named GORDO, was launched aboard a Jupiter missile nose cone. Nose cone recovery efforts failed because the float mechanism attached to the nose cone did not function, telemetry data provided useful biochemical information and had disclosed the monkey withstood space flight and re-entry without any adverse effects. GORDO was in a state of weightlessness for 8.3 minutes. He experienced 10g pressure at liftoff and 40g pressure at re-entry at 10,000 mph. (GORDO also called LITTLE OLD RELIABLE).
(Extracted from the book "PROJECT MERCURY ...one step into space" by Donald O. Schultz)
