Enos (born about 1957 – died November 4, 1962) was a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

launched into space by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, following his predecessor Ham. He was the only

non-human primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

to orbit the Earth, and the third

hominid The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); '' Gorilla'' (the ...

to do so after

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

and

Gherman Titov Gherman Stepanovich Titov (; 11 September 1935 – 20 September 2000) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut who, on 6 August 1961, became the second human to orbit the Earth, aboard Vostok 2, preceded by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1. He was the fou ...

. Enos's flight occurred on November 29, 1961. Enos was brought from the Miami Rare Bird Farm on April 3, 1960. He completed more than 1,250 training hours at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

and

Holloman Air Force Base Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, which is the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The b ...

. Training was more intense for him than for

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

, who had become the first great ape in space in January 1961, because Enos was exposed to

weightlessness Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

and higher ''g''s for longer periods of time. His training included psychomotor instruction and aircraft flights. Enos was selected for his

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

flight only three days before launch. Two months prior,

launched

Mercury-Atlas 4 Mercury-Atlas 4 (MA-4) was an uncrewed test flight within NASA's Project Mercury program, launched on September 13, 1961, at 14:04:16 UTC from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14. The mission's primary purpose was to evaluate the ...

on September 13, 1961, to conduct an identical mission with a "crewman simulator" on board. Enos flew into space aboard

Mercury-Atlas 5 Mercury-Atlas 5 was an American spaceflight of the Mercury program. It was launched on November 29, 1961, with Enos, a chimpanzee, aboard. The craft orbited the Earth twice and splashed down about south of Bermuda, and Enos became the first pri ...

on November 29, 1961. He completed his first orbit in 1 hour and 28.5 minutes. Enos was scheduled to complete three orbits, but the mission was aborted after two, due to two issues: capsule overheating and a malfunctioning "avoidance conditioning" test subjecting the primate to 76 electrical shocks. According to one history of primatology, "The chimpanzee, about five years old, behaved like a true hero: despite the malfunctions of the electronic system, he conscientiously performed all the tasks he had learned during the entire flight of over three hours...Enos demonstrated that he was careful to successfully complete his mission and that he perfectly understood what was expected of him." After his space capsule made an ocean landing, Enos "had become angry and frustrated at the three-hour wait" before being retrieved by U.S. Navy seamen. The capsule was brought aboard in the late afternoon and Enos was immediately taken below deck by his Air Force handlers. ''Stormes'' then dropped Enos at the Kindley Air Force Base hospital in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, where he was found to be in good shape. On December 1, 1961 Enos left Bermuda for Cape Canaveral, and eventually Holloman Air Force Base. Enos's flight was a full dress rehearsal for the next Mercury launch on February 20, 1962, which would make

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1 ...

the first American to orbit Earth. Enos was nicknamed "the Penis," due to his frequent fondling of himself. On November 4, 1962, Enos died of

shigellosis Shigellosis, known historically as dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by ''Shigella'' bacteria. Symptoms generally start one to two days after exposure and include diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and feeling the need to pass ...

-related

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

, which was resistant to then-known antibiotics. He was constantly observed for two months before his death. Pathologists reported no symptoms that could be attributed or related to his previous space flight.

References

External links

''Enos the Chimpanzee travels to space on NASA's Mercury Atlas 5 1960'', YouTube video"Voyage of space chimpanzee Enos ended in Bermuda" by Gail Westerfield
* *
''One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps'', documentary on history of chimpanzees used in space travel
Atlantic.com article about electrical shocks

MentalFloss.com on 54th anniversary of flight {{Apes 1950s animal births 1962 animal deaths 1961 in spaceflight Animals in space Deaths from dysentery Individual chimpanzees Non-human primate astronauts of the American space program Project Mercury Place of birth missing Year of birth missing

See also

References

External links