* Astronomy

1959: Space monkeys (Universal News)

Monkeys "Able" and "Baker" became the first monkeys to survive spaceflight after their 1959 flight. On 28 May 1959, aboard Jupiter IRBM AM-18, were a 3.18 kg American-born rhesus monkey, "Able", and a 310 g squirrel monkey from Peru, "Baker". The monkeys rode in the nosecone of the missile to an altitude of 360 miles (579 km) and a distance of 2735 km down the Atlantic Missile Range from Cape Canaveral, Florida. They withstood forces 38 times the normal pull of gravity and were weightless for about 9 minutes. A top speed of 16 000 km/h was reached during their 16 minute flight. The monkeys survived the flight in good condition. "Able" died four days after the flight from a reaction to anesthesia, while undergoing surgery to remove an infected medical electrode. "Baker" lived until 29 November 1984, at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.