back to article NASA marks 50th anniversary of monkey spaceflight

Fifty years ago today, two monkeys became the first mammals to successfully return to Earth after spaceflight, paving the way for manned missions. On May 28, 1959, Able, an American born rhesus monkey and Miss Baker, a Peruvian squirrel monkey were strapped into the nose cone of a liquid-fueled Jupiter missile by NASA …

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  1. Pete Silver badge

    Now part of the animal kingdom

    What no-one realises is that while they were up there, the monkeys claimed all of outer space for their species. Sadly as the monkeys didn't speak american and very few 'merkins speak Rhesus (and those who do are generally considered insane), the claim was never acknowledged.

    I'm sure that in years to come when the monkeys achieve sentience, one of the first actions their lawyers will take is to reaffirm this stake - thus making them the dominant species on the planet

    Dominance means being at the top of the gravity well, not the top of the food chain.

  2. Angus
    Thumb Up

    Wonderful!

    "My god, it's full of bananas"

  3. Maksim Rukov
    Heart

    Chimpanzee That

    MONKEY NEWS

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fh4df1e2so

  4. Roger Greenwood

    What about C & D ?

    or Charlie and Dog as they would have been known then.

  5. Neil Hoskins
    Thumb Up

    Vote

    Sub-heading of the month.

  6. GrahamT
    Happy

    Another great sub-headline

    That's all I have to say.

  7. Stephen Gray
    Joke

    What next, monkeys that glow in the dark?

    Err, yes actually

  8. Graham Bartlett
    Paris Hilton

    Bonsai monkey!

    From that pic, it looks like NASA invented the Bonsai Monkey. Move over, Bonsai Kitten, you're 50 years too late!

    Paris, because she knows all about monkey business...

  9. S Larti

    Exhibit A

    "Her body was stuffed and strapped once again into the capsule for exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington where it remains today."

    So are they gonna do that with Neil Armstrong one day? Huh? Huh?

    Darn speciesists!

  10. Sooty
    Joke

    I wonder?

    If there's some sort of connection between Monkeys reaching space and the creation of COBOL, as they appear to have happened at abount the same time.

  11. Doug Glass
    Go

    Monkey Business

    2001: A Space Banana

  12. Emo

    Awesome

    Sub heading!

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    (as they say) if you Pay Peanuts...

    you get monkeys!

    looks like the addage works not only in IT but also with Rocket Scientists

  14. John Tserkezis

    Not the same.

    Next time you're tempted to say "those chimps in government" remember that they really are not the same.

    The furry real chimps are by far more intelligent.

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