He Begs to Differ on ‘the First Being in Space’

In Cliff Rothman’s insightful article about the descendants of primates involved in the U.S. space program, he quotes a source who states that Ham the chimpanzee was “the first being in space” (“Giving Chimps Their Space,” Aug. 6).

Ham was not the first living being in space. That honor went to a small Soviet dog named Laika, which means “barker” in Russian. Laika was launched into orbit aboard Sputnik 2 on Nov. 3, 1957. Sadly, the Russians had no way to bring him back, and he died in orbit about a week later.

ERIC GARDNER

Hermosa Beach

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I was fortunate to have met the late Cmdr. Alan Shepard when the Fabulous Seven visited the Space Technology Laboratories, where I worked as a bioastronautics engineer. His incredible bravery and momentous achievement were preceded by extensive experiments using animals, primarily chimpanzees.

However, a chimp was not the first American being in space. That designation rightly belongs to a white mouse named MIA (Mouse in Able), who in mid-1958 flew as part of a small experiment aboard a Thor-Able rocket designed to test alternative nose cone materials for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

This was followed by two other mouse flights. Telemetry records of mouse heartbeats provided the first data to American scientists showing that mice--and thus presumably men--could survive launch and function through at least 45 minutes of weightlessness in a true space environment.

Unfortunately, the nose cones containing the mice were not located by recovery crews after reentry. The biologists assured me that death from lack of oxygen--the probable fate of the mice--was preceded by a period of euphoric semiconsciousness. I hope that was the case. They contributed significant information to the engineers who designed the manned space capsules, and they deserved a better fate.

LAUREL ROENNAU

Santa Monica