On Jan. 21, 1960, a monkey named Miss Sam introduced on a Little Joe rocket to help NASA evaluate the launch escape system for its brand-new Mercury spacecraft. This spacecraft would eventually bring the very first American astronauts into area. Miss Sam didnt fly all the way to area; the rocket only reached an altitude of about 9 miles. To evaluate her psychomotor efficiency throughout the flight, Miss Sam was trained to pull a lever utilizing a light as a cue. Miss Sam, a rhesus monkey, is filled into a bio-pack for the launch of Little Joe 1B to evaluate the launch escape system of NASAs Mercury spacecraft. Miss Sam released on Jan. 21, 1960. (Image credit: NASA) She nailed the test and fared well throughout the 8.5-minute flight, and the escape system worked according to strategy. Catch up on our whole “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist. On This Day in Space Archive! Still inadequate area? Do not forget to check out our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week. Email Hanneke Weitering at [email protected] or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook..
