Um... Next Week In History
I'm afraid if I don't put this in here now, I'll forget in a week:
On May, 28, 1959, monkeynauts Able and Baker were launched in the nosecone of a Jupiter rocket. After their 15 minute flight, the monkeys were successfully recovered. They withstood forces 38 times the force of Earth's gravity and were weightless for 9 minutes. They were the first animals to be recovered alive after a spaceflight.
As I recall, Able died not long afterwards from complications in surgery to remove monitoring equipment, but Baker lived for many years afterwards, and her memorial is in front of the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Bananas are frequently left atop the memorial.
On a side now, one of my favorite parts in the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start The Fire" is the part about the "Space Monkey Mafia." That's just cool. Also cool is the bit about "Ole Miss John Glenn." Similar to regular John Glenn, but with more heritage, I'm sure (To say nothing of "Alabama Kruschev"--presumably George Wallace)..

:: :: 10:18 :: David :: [permalink] ::