Carrying a chimpanzee named Ham on a suborbital flight, Mercury spacecraft Number 5 was launched at 16:55 UTC on January 31, 1961, from LC-5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The capsule and Ham, the first great ape in space, landed safely in the Atlantic Ocean 16 minutes and 39 seconds after launch.

The previous Mercury-Redstone mission, MR-1A, flew a trajectory that was too steep with accelerations too high for a human passenger.

One minute after the launch, computers reported that the flight path angle was at least one degree too high and rising.

The high flight angle, and the early abort, caused the maximum velocity of the spacecraft, relative to the Earth's surface, to be 7,540 ft/s (2,300 m/s) instead of the planned 6,465 ft/s (1,971 m/s).

Ham was safe in his own couch spacesuit and did not suffer any ill effects from the loss of cabin pressure.

His couch spacesuit pressure remained normal, and suit temperature stayed well within the 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 26 °C) optimum range.

Onboard cameras filming Ham's reaction to weightlessness showed a surprising amount of dust and debris floating around inside the capsule during apogee.

The search plane requested that the Navy send its rescue helicopters from the closest ship carrying them.

Upon water impact, the beryllium heat shield had bounced against the capsule bottom, punching two holes in the titanium pressure bulkhead.

When the helicopter crew finally latched onto and picked up Ham's spacecraft at 18:52 UTC., they estimated there was about 800 pounds (360 kg) of sea water aboard.

When the spacecraft was opened Ham appeared to be in good condition and readily accepted an apple and half an orange.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.