1969-06-29 USA Biosatellite 3

A Biosatellite 3 launch cover, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on June 29, 1969.

A Biosatellite 3 recovery cover from “SpaceCraft Swanson,” postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 7, 1969. The mission carried “Bonny,” a 6-kg male southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina), into low Earth orbit with the goal of completing a 30-day flight. However, after only 8.8 days in orbit, the mission was terminated prematurely due to Bonny’s deteriorating health.

A Biosatellite 3 recovery cover from “Orbit Covers”, postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on July 8, 1969. Bonny, dubbed an “astromonk” by the American press—following the earlier American missions whose chimpanzee astronauts were nicknamed “chimponauts” — died on July 8, one day after the biological capsule was successfully recovered from the Pacific Ocean.

1966-12-14 USA Biosatellite 1

A Biosatellite 1 launch cover from "SpaceCraft Swanson", postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on December 14, 1966.

Photo: "BIOSATELLITE, the first United States unmanned orbiting vehicle designed to conduct biological experiments in outer space, is prepared by technicians for its mid December flight. Completely automatic because it must conduct experiments in flight as well as return to a recoverable location, the GE-built craft will be as complicated as anything yet launched in terms of what it must perform. Experiments will be performed on the effects of weightlessness and radiation on terrestrial life. NEA. December 23, 1966."

1961-11-29 USA Mercury Atlas MA-5 (ENOS)

Mercury-Atlas 5 (MA-5) was launched on November 29, 1961, carrying Enos, a chimpanzee. The spacecraft completed two orbits around the Earth before splashing down approximately 200 miles (320 km) south of Bermuda, making Enos the first primate from the United States and the third great ape to orbit the Earth.

A MA-5 launch cover from "SpaceCraft" postmarked at Patrick Air Force Base (PAFB) with a machine cancel on November 29, 1961.

By November 1961, the Soviet Union had successfully launched Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov into orbit with the Vostok 1 and Vostok 2 missions, while the United States had only conducted suborbital flights. At that time, NASA was still deliberating on sending a chimpanzee into orbit as part of the Mercury-Atlas subprogram, with headquarters questioning the logic behind another unmanned Mercury mission from the Manned Spacecraft Center. The NASA Public Affairs Office issued a press release ahead of the flight, emphasizing that "the men in charge of Project Mercury have insisted on orbiting the chimpanzee as a necessary preliminary checkout of the entire Mercury program before risking a human astronaut."

Photo: Enos, the space chimpanzee, was launched into space and completed three orbits around the Earth on November 29, 1961.

Photo: Staff members transporting ENOS to a van for the journey to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

A MA-5 launch cover from "Goldcraft" postmarked at Port Canaveral with a hand cancel on November 29, 1961.

Photo: ENOS dressed in his space flight suit.

A MA-5 launch cover from "Sarzin" postmarked at Port Canaveral with a hand cancel on November 29, 1961.

Photo: MA-5 launch on November 29, 1961.

A MA-5 tracking station cover, one of the stations for the Mercury space flight, postmarked at Grand Turk Island with a hand cancel on November 29, 1961, signed by Joe Frasketi, who produced and serviced this cover.

A first day cover of Project Mercury stamp, featuring a hand-painted cachet by artist Chris Henderson, depicting Enos, the first chimpanzee to orbit the Earth.

Photo: Enos back at Cape Canaveral after his space flight.

(Reference from Mercury-Atlas 5)

1961-11-10 USA Mercury Atlas 32E (GOLIATH)

On November 10, an attempt to launch a biological mission (Missile 32E) featuring a squirrel monkey named Goliath ended in failure when the Atlas's sustainer engine shut down almost immediately after liftoff, while the vernier engines failed to ignite. The booster engines managed to maintain attitude control until a fire erupted in the thrust section, causing the B-1 engine to shut down at T+22 seconds. Telemetry data then became erratic. The Atlas began to tumble uncontrollably and was destroyed by Range Safety at T+35 seconds, while the B-2 engine continued to operate until the missile was destroyed. The nose cone impacted the ocean approximately 20 seconds later.

GOLIATH launch cover from "SpaceCraft" postmarked at Port Canaveral on November 10, 1961.

Goliath, who was placed in a padded container without restraints, was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean three days later. A postmortem examination revealed that he had died from multiple head injuries likely caused by the impact with the ocean, rather than from the capsule's separation from the booster. If the flight had been successful, Goliath would have embarked on a 5,000-mile (8,000 km) suborbital flight and been recovered in the South Atlantic. The capsule lacked instrumentation or medical monitoring for the monkey, featuring only a TV camera to document his actions during the flight. The failure of Atlas 32E briefly raised concerns about Project Mercury, but NASA reassured the public that the flight used a different model of booster and that the accident was unrelated to Mercury.

GOLIATH launch cover from "Goldcraft" postmarked at Port Canaveral on November 10, 1961.

(Reference from SM-65E Atlas)

1961-01-31 USA Mercury Redstone MR-2 (HAM)

Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) was launched on January 31, 1961, at 16:55 UTC from Launch Complex 5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This suborbital flight carried the first chimpanzee, HAM, into outer space. The capsule, along with HAM, the first great ape in space, safely landed in the Atlantic Ocean 16 minutes and 39 seconds after launch. HAM's name is derived from the lab that trained him for this historic mission—the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center. At the time of the launch, HAM was 3 years and 8 months old, and he passed away on January 19, 1983, at the age of 26. He was one of many animals sent into space.

A MR-2 launch cover from "Sarzin" featuring HAM the chimp, postmarked at Port Canaveral on January 31, 1961.

Photo: HAM inside the capsule during his spaceflight from Cape Canaveral. Enlarged from a 16 mm motion picture film released by NASA, the image was captured by an automatic camera mounted inside the capsule, focused on HAM's face as reflected in a mirror. The camera recorded at four frames per second, using natural daylight for exposure. Along with this camera, three additional 16 mm cameras were used during the flight: one focused on the instrument panel, another directed toward Earth, and the third capturing the rocket separation.

The Mercury-Redstone 2 sub-orbital flight encountered several issues. The rocket over-accelerated, causing the spacecraft to overshoot its planned altitude and distance. A malfunction in the attitude control system led to erratic movements and higher-than-expected g-forces. The environmental control system also failed, resulting in a cabin pressure drop, though HAM was protected by his pressure suit. Additionally, the spacecraft experienced more intense reentry heating due to the overshoot, and after splashdown, it began to sink because of a leaky hatch. Despite these problems, the mission provided valuable data for future manned flights.

A MR-2 launch cover from "Swanson", featuring a stamped parachuting monkey cachet, postmarked at Patrick Air Force Base on January 31, 1961.

Photo: Space chimpanzee HAM was brought to USS Donner after recovery.

Two MR-2 launch covers from "Goldcraft" featuring the flight path of MR-2. The top cover is postmarked at Port Canaveral on January 31, 1961, while the bottom cover is postmarked at Patrick Air Force Base on the same date.

HAM was recovered by a helicopter and brought aboard the USS Donner. However, since the ship's post office was closed that day, Rich Hoffner, who created this cover, sent 63 covers to the secondary recovery ship, the USS Warrington, to be postmarked on January 31, 1961, for the Mercury-Redstone 2 recovery.

(Reference from Mercury-Redstone 2)

1960-10-13 USA SALLY AMY MOE

On October 13, 1960, three black mice named Sally, Amy, and Moe traveled 650 miles into space aboard an Atlas missile nose cone, accompanied by generous supplies of oxygen, oatmeal, peanuts, gelatin, and various scientific instruments. During the flight, the mice entered the hazardous inner Van Allen radiation belt and experienced ten minutes of weightlessness before enduring a fiery reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, landing 5,000 miles downrange. The genetic insights gained from studying the effects of radiation during this mission will be beneficial for future human space travelers.

"Sarzin" covers postmarked at Port Canaveral, October 13, 1960, the launch day of the Atlas rocket with Sally, Amy, Moe onboard.

Photo: Sally, Amy, Moe - the three mice that flew into space.

(Reference from SPACE: Three Black Mice)

1960-01-21 USA Little Joe 1B (Miss SAM)

Little Joe 1B, launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, on January 21, 1960, aimed to test the escape system designed to separate the capsule from the rocket in the event of an early abort, as well as to study the effects of the flight's stresses on a primate. The mission proceeded as planned and was deemed successful. Miss Sam, the test primate, was retrieved by a MAG-26 helicopter, while the USS Opportune recovered the submerged escape tower, which was found in two pieces.

"Miss Sam" launch cover with Goldcraft cachet, postmarked Wallops Island, January 21, 1960.

1959-12-04 USA Little Joe 2 (Mr SAM)

"Mr SAM" launch cover with Goldcraft cachet, postmarked Wallops Island, December 4, 1959.

The Little Joe 2 mission tested the Mercury space capsule by sending a rhesus monkey named Sam (Macaca mulatta) to near-space altitudes. The mission of Little Joe 2 was to evaluate the effectiveness of the escape system and assess the capsule's performance during an abort at a significant altitude, as well as to study the effects of an abort flight on a primate. The flight was launched on December 4, 1959, at 11:15 a.m. ET from Wallops Island, Virginia, USA. Little Joe 2 reached an altitude of 55 miles (88 km) and was successfully recovered in the Atlantic Ocean, with Sam found alive and unharmed aboard the USS Borie.

Photo: Monkey SAM

Photo: SAM suited up for the spaceflight.

1959-09-15 USA Bioflight 3

Bioflight 3 was a biological mission that launched on September 15, 1959. The Jupiter missile, which carried the Bioflight 3 payload containing 14 mice and several NASA biological specimens in the nose cone, lifted off from LC 26B at 16:45 EST. However, the missile encountered issues almost immediately, wobbling during its ascent. Just before it flipped upside down, its kerosene tank ruptured, and 14 seconds after liftoff, the missile began to disintegrate. The failure was attributed to a defective silver solder connection to a pressure sphere.

Bioflight 3 lanuch cover postmarked on September 15, 1959, Port Canaveral.

(Reference from KING OF GODS: The Jupiter Missile Story, Bioflight 3)

1959-06-03 USA Discoverer 3

Discoverer 3 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite launched on June 3, 1959, at 20:09:20 GMT. It was the third of three test flights in the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series and marked the first Discoverer mission to carry live animal passengers. Unfortunately, the mission was lost when its Agena-A booster crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Three black mice were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard Discoverer 3 as part of this covert operation. They perished when the Atlas upper stage was intentionally fired downward into the Pacific.

Discoverer 3 "Goldcraft" launch cover postmarked at Vandenberg Air Force Base on June 3, 1959.

(Reference from Discoverer 3)

1959-05-28 USA ABLE & BAKER

A launch cover for Able and Baker featuring a Goldcraft cachet, postmarked at Port Canaveral on May 23, 1959.

On May 28, 1959, a Jupiter rocket was launched, carrying a rhesus monkey named Miss Able and a squirrel monkey named Miss Baker. After a 16-minute flight, of which nine minutes were spent in weightlessness, the monkeys' capsule safely returned to Earth, and both were recovered in "perfect health," making them the first primates to survive such a journey. Unfortunately, Miss Able died just days after the successful flight due to an adverse reaction to anesthesia. In contrast, Miss Baker became a beloved figure among American schoolchildren during her 25 years of retirement.

Photo: The monkey operates a lever to receive food pellets, learning that it needs to pump the lever 25 times to get the food. While retrieving food in space, the monkey simultaneously transmits data to scientists on Earth.

Photo: Image of Able secured in a "space suit."

Photo: Recovery of the nose cone that transported Able and Baker by the USS Kiowa on May 28, 1959.

Photo: The space monkey Able was extracted from its capsule on Thursday after a journey through space in the nose cone of a Jupiter missile launched from Cape Canaveral. The capsule was recovered by the Navy ship Kiowa in the Atlantic, approximately 1,500 miles southeast of the launch site.

Photo: Space monkey Baker being monitored by medical staff following its journey through space.

Photo: Space monkey Able passed away in 1959 while undergoing surgery to remove a recording device that had been implanted to monitor its physical condition during the spaceflight.

1958-12-13 USA GORDO

GORDO "Goldcraft" launch cover with Goldcraft postmarked at Port Canaveral on December 13, 1958.

A squirrel monkey named GORDO was launched in the nose cone of a Jupiter missile. Recovery attempts for the nose cone were unsuccessful due to a malfunction in the float mechanism. However, telemetry data revealed valuable biochemical information and showed that GORDO endured spaceflight and re-entry without any negative effects. He experienced 8.3 minutes of weightlessness, with 10g of pressure at liftoff and 40g of pressure during re-entry at speeds of 10,000 mph. GORDO is also known as LITTLE OLD RELIABLE.