May 28, 1959: Female monkeys Able and Baker become the first primates to survive spaceflight.A rhesu
May 28, 1959: Female monkeys Able and Baker become the first primates to survive spaceflight.A rhesus macaque named Able and a squirrel monkey named Baker launched on a suborbital flight aboard a Jupiter rocket. They were the first primates (and animals other than dogs) to survive spaceflight, but Able died a few days later during surgery. Baker spent the rest of her days at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama where she entertained visitors and received more than a hundred fan letters a day. She died in 1987 and the age of 27, setting the record for the oldest squirrel monkey to ever live. Read more about Able, Baker, and other primates who flew in space here! -- source link