Strangely enough, the monkey flew into space, on returning, it also disturbed an American destroyer

Sam, a rakesus monkey who went on a journey to the edge of the universe, returned to Earth when his ship plunged into the Atlantic. But Sam's adventure has not ended there.

The archives that NASA archives about Sam's 1959 flight are sketchy and scant. It was primarily a confirmation, that the newly built Mercury capsule at that time kept the monkey alive, meaning that humans were ready to follow in the air.

But in the memory of Bob Thompson, a former NASA employee, the story of the rakesus monkey has always been extremely vivid.

Despite turning 90, Thompson still dominates the room with her commanding voice. He stood in the kitchen, recalls and told of an event that took place six decades ago, about Sam's landing.

Back in December 1959, NASA was only 18 months away from Alan Shepard's first flight into space. The US Space Agency is still conducting tests on missiles and spacecraft. Scientists know almost nothing about the effect of the gravity-free environment on humans, or what they need to do to keep their astronauts alive out there.

Immediately, they thought they had to design a safe cocoon system to get astronauts to quickly escape the rocket in the event of an accident. Back at that time, the NASA rocket exploded which was the story.

So when NASA's young engineers at the Langley Research Center in Virginia started testing Mercury cocoons for flight, they wanted to see whether the accelerations impact astronauts' bodies during flight cancellations. After launch can keep them alive or not.

This is the position that Sam, a 3.6kg rakesus monkey was recruited.

Sam was recruited into NASA for the Mecury cocoon's safety testing mission.

A year earlier, Thompson was recruited to coordinate with the US Navy conducting landing and recovery operations for NASA astronauts. As a full-time member of the Space Mission Group at NASA, Thompson is tasked with restoring Sam's health, if it survives returning to Earth. Or if it unfortunately died, he had to collect the remains of his body.

By the time the cocoon Mecury had brought Sam into the Atlantic, the sea was rough and the waves tried to bury it. But on December 4, the sea finally calmed down a bit.

" I was out there on a destroyer, the sea was 6 meters tall, " Thompson recalls.

"The destroyer captain is a former submarine soldier. I stay in the command room and teach him a short course on wind and the sea that will help recovery. And I said," Stay as firm as you can. when you go and don't stop ". Then I left the command room, went down to the deck to help them get the cocoon out of the water."

The monkey is put into a 36 inch x 18 inch container.

Flight

That was when Sam had a long trip. It is in a 36 inch x 18 inch container placed in a cocoon. The complex was launched into space with a Little Joe rocket. A minute after the flight, traveling at 3,685mph, the Mercury cocoon broke out.

Sitting on his couch, Sam endured an acceleration of 10 to 12Gs before it had 3 minutes in weightless environment, reaching a maximum altitude of about 53 miles. Cocoon pressure dropped from atmospheric pressure to about half during the flight.

Then the Mercury cocoon fell into the turbulent waters off Virginia. Sam the monkey is still locked in his chair, the cocoon bouncing around in the waves, waiting for Thompson and the Navy to rescue them. Finally, the destroyer had access to it.

When Thompson came down to the deck, the sailors were trying to hook a long aluminum rod into a pin on top of the Mecury cocoon. It looks like the handle of an Easter basket. But then, as soon as the capsule was hooked, the captain stopped the ship.

The Little Joe rocket brought Sam's Mecury-cocoon to the edge of space.

The ball of destruction

" Because the ship was missing in the waves, the cocoon became a sphere of destruction," Thompson recalls. " Unexpectedly, BAM! It was thrown on the side of the ship. It rolled back and BAM! Keep crashing next to the ship again."

" I was below the deck and after the BAM! Second, I told the crew officer to relax the chain. After that, the cocoon struck one last time before being dangled on the deck. We wrapped one. lariat around it and provided emergency assistance to a sailor injured in the incident. (He later recovered) ".

Surprisingly, the cocoon wasn't much damaged. But what happened to Sam, the monkey who flew to the edge of the universe, returned to Earth and still being abused?

" The monkey was in a big aluminum can, bolted to the floor. We took off the lid, I cupped my fingers and poked it down there. The monkey took my hand. We had one." I put down the monkey and asked a sergeant to get apples and oranges. The monkey was hungry. He ate most of it . "

Cocoon Mecury at NASA's Langley Research Center.

After the flight, an analysis of electrocardiography, respiration, body temperature, eye movement and other measurements showed no abnormal results from Sam's physiological and psychological reactions.

The monkey survived the challenge, the appetite intact. Sam, a NASA employee from the United States Air Force Medical School at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas, returned home. It continued to live a long life, until it died in 1982 and was cremated.

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