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Space Monkey
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A rhesus monkey, named Sam, was launched into Space on board the first Little Joe animal flight on December 4, 1959 at 11:15 from Wallops Island (Virginia). The Little Joe program was part of PROJECT MERCURY with the aim to test space equipment. This equipment would be used in future manned flights and to investigate the effects of high accelerations. The monkey traveled 55 miles into space. The capsule was recovered two hours later by the USS Borie in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. After his flight, Sam was taken to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.
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