Enos (chimpanzee)

Enos with handler

Enos being prepared for insertion into the Mercury-Atlas 5 capsule in 1961.

Enos (died November 4, 1962) was the first chimpanzee launched into Earth orbit.

Enos was brought from the Miami Rare Bird Farm on April 3, 1960. He completed more than 1,250 training hours at the University of Kentucky and Holloman Air Force Base. Training was more intense for him than for Ham, because Enos was exposed to weightlessness and higher gs for longer periods of time. His training included psychomotor instruction and aircraft flights.

Enos was selected for flight only three days before launch. Two months prior, NASA launched Mercury Atlas 4 on September 13, 1961, to conduct an identical mission with a "crewman simulator" onboard. Enos flew into space aboard Mercury Atlas 5 on November 29, 1961. He completed his first orbit in 1 hour and 28.5 minutes.

Enos was scheduled to complete three orbits, but aborted after two due to improper attitude. Observers witnessed Enos jumping for joy, running around the recovery ships's deck, and enthusiastically shaking his rescuer's hands. Enos's flight was a full dress rehearsal for the next Mercury launch on February 20, 1962, which would make Lt. Colonel John Glenn the first American to orbit Earth, after astronauts Alan Shepard, Jr. and Gus Grissom's successful suborbital space flights.

On November 4, 1962, Enos died of shigellosis-related dysentery, which was resistant to then-known antibiotics. He was constantly observed for two months before his death. Pathologists reported no symptoms that could be attributed or related to his previous space flight. Many believe Enos's remains were dissected like Ham, who was extensively studied postmortem at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Some of Ham's remains, minus the skeleton (which remained with AIP), were buried at the International Space Hall of Fame in New Mexico. Recent attempts by space scholars to locate Enos's remains were unsuccessful. Some confirmed post-mortem study was undertaken, but no further trail exists. Enos's body was most likely unceremoniously discarded when examinations completed.

External links

• Voyage of space chimp Enos ended in Bermuda by Gail Westerfield
• A film clip Chimp into space (no title), 1961/11/30 (1961) is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
• A film clip documenting Enos take-off and landing is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
• One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps. Documentary on History of Primates Used in Space Travel
• Enos is the main character in the sci-fi comic Enos The Chimp