When Hamm the chimpanzee was born, the United States and the Soviet Union were still in the Cold War, and neither side refused to accept secret competition. Everyone has turned their attention to the space field that they have never set foot in. Who can step into space first naturally proves that its comprehensive strength is stronger. Who will lose the title of the largest country?
19571On a quiet night on October 4, the Soviet Union successfully sent the first artificial satellite into space. At this time, the United States was a little restless and accelerated the process of space research and development. No one has ever set foot in space. They want to be the first person to eat crabs. However, it takes a lot of thought for the country to train an astronaut, and no one can guarantee the result. There is no doubt that it is too risky to experiment with people. No one dares to do such a bold experiment.
American scientists put forward a bold idea that chimpanzees are the most similar primates to humans. If we do experiments with chimpanzees, chimpanzees can successfully enter space and come back alive, which proves that humans can also enter space. Just do it, they carefully selected 40 chimpanzees for training, and Ham was one of them. "Chimpanzee Project" starts from this moment.
Forty chimpanzees were driven by a group of American air forces and taken to a strange place. Their eyes are blank, and they don't know what they are carrying. 40 chimpanzees, who participate in intensive training every day, will be rewarded with a banana or an apple for their good performance; If you don't behave well and can't complete the task as instructed, you will be punished.
Gradually, one chimpanzee after another was eliminated. Ham, the chimpanzee who performed best and stayed last, is one of them. After two and a half years of training, Ham has been able to complete all the instructions well. He knows that as long as he does it right, he will be rewarded.
196 1 year 1 month 3 1 day, ham was not trained but was taken to a strange place. However, Ham is not timid at all. After a long training, he can face these changes calmly.
Ham was sent into a narrow confined space. After the hatch was closed, the spaceship took off with a loud noise and sailed into the vast space. People on the ground looked at this scene and could not help applauding. This is a great experiment, bearing the hope of space for many years. The eyes of the ground staff hardly left the probe hole of the spacecraft. Everyone was excited to see the spacecraft approaching the atmosphere a little bit and rushing out of the atmosphere into space.
The spacecraft flew at a high speed in space 252 kilometers above the ground 16 minutes. However, things didn't go as smoothly as expected. After the spacecraft left the ground and flew in outer space 16 minutes, abnormal data was detected. It began to fall downward and finally fell in the direction of the Atlantic Ocean. Then, everyone immediately began to search and rescue, waiting for the final result, hoping it was still alive. This is the most successful experiment in decades.
In fact, it is not the first time that animals have been used for space experiments. In recent decades, there have been many examples of experiments with monkeys, chimpanzees and mammals. Scientists prefer monkeys or chimpanzees to do experiments than mammals, because primates are closest to humans. So far, 34 chimpanzees and monkeys have participated in space experiments.
In June 1948, 1 1, the macaque (Albert 1) took off in a rocket with immature technology, and the air became thinner and thinner. The monkey died quickly in fright and lack of oxygen before rushing out of the earth. 1949, the macaque (Albert III) suffered a rocket explosion during the flight, leaving no bones. There are countless such examples, but unfortunately the ending is death. Ham is the first human-like animal to successfully enter space, and it is very important whether to return to Earth or not.
After a series of emergency searches, the chimpanzee's return capsule was successfully found. When the space capsule was opened, everyone was surprised to find that it was still alive. As usual, the staff immediately gave ham a banana as a reward, and this time it performed well. After returning to the earth, Ham suddenly became a "star" in the hearts of the people of the whole country, and the scenery was infinite for a while.
Space and the earth are worlds apart. Does Ham who went into space have any physical problems? There is a lot of radiation in space, which is in weightlessness. At that time, the protective measures were not mature enough, and it was obviously impossible to say that it had no effect on its body. The radiation in space is so strong that it can't be compared with the earth. According to years of scientific data, animals that have been to space will have problems such as muscle atrophy, affected reproductive capacity and osteoporosis.
The chimpanzees who participated in the experiment basically had a tragic result, or they continued to be used in the experiment until they died; Or put it in a cage to die. After years of appeals from many organizations, these chimpanzees who participated in the experiment finally had a relatively good ending and were sent to gorilla sanatorium for the rest of their lives.
Back to Ham on Earth, there seemed to be nothing wrong at first. Ham was sent to Washington National Zoo to enjoy the rest of his life. As time goes on, people think there is something wrong with ham. First of all, the doctor detected that Ham's heartbeat was different from that of healthy chimpanzees, and its heartbeat was much faster than that of other chimpanzees.
It is speculated that this may be a "sequela" after returning from space. A short space trip quietly changed Ham's body. The average life expectancy of chimpanzees is about 50 years, but Ham only lived for 25 years, which is half of the average life expectancy of chimpanzees! It is profitable for human beings to experiment with animals, but aren't animals innocent?
Although the Hamm incident made mankind take the first step into space, it also showed us more unknown dangers in space. Although our astronauts can land on the moon and step into the space station, living in space may have a great impact on our health. After learning the story of Ham, a chimpanzee, I think our astronauts are heroes of the country and the people. Pay tribute to them!