Minnie, Last of the Early U.S. Space Program ‘Astro-Chimps,’ Dies at 41
Minnie, the last surviving “astro-chimp” from the early days of the space program, has died at age 41.
Once an understudy for the space-going chimpanzees Ham and Enos, Minnie died March 14 of old age, Coulston Foundation spokesman Don McKinney said. The private medical research lab has overseen the space chimps at Holloman Air Force Base since 1993.
Minnie was the only female chimp trained for the Mercury Project in the early 1960s, but she never flew.
Ham was the first chimpanzee in space, making a 15-minute suborbital flight in 1961 as a prelude to Alan B. Shepard’s mission that May. Enos flew in orbit shortly before John Glenn did in February 1962.
Minnie will be buried at the state-funded Space Center in Alamogordo.
“These chimpanzees were true pioneers and heroes of the space program,” said Don Starkey, space center executive director.
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