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Ham the Astrochimp.

Grave of Ham the Astrochimp

Field review by the editors.

Alamogordo, New Mexico

Died 1983

Pet Cemetery.

Ham was the world's first AstroChimp, and the first free creature in outer space. He blasted off from Cape Canaveral on January 31, 1961, and traveled 155 miles in 16.5 minutes before splashing down safely in the Atlantic. The first American human to orbit the earth, John Glenn, was rewarded with a seat in the US Senate. Ham's reward was an apple.

After his space mission, Ham lived in the National Zoo in Washington, DC, for 17 years. Fretting animal activists worried that he languished there, a lonely superstar with a single tire hanging from his ceiling. So in 1981 Ham was moved to a zoo in North Carolina. There he socialized with other chimps, and found a special lady chimp to love. He died, peacefully, of old age on January 19, 1983, at age 27.

Grave of Ham.

Ham's body was shipped west, and is buried in the front lawn of the International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo, NM, under the first slab of natural-tone concrete poured in Otero County.

Also see: Celebrities | Roadside Pet Cemetery

Grave of Ham the Astrochimp

New Mexico Museum of Space History

Address:
Hwy 2001, Alamogordo, NM
Directions:
US Hwy 54/70 north through town. Just past the New Mexico School for the Visually Handicapped, turn right on Indian Wells Rd. Drive to the end, then left on Scenic Drive, then a quick right onto Hwy 2001 up the hill to the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Ham's grave is at the base of the flagpoles.
Hours:
Gates open M, W-Sa 10-5; Su 12-5 (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
Phone:
575-437-2840
Save to My Sights

Nearby Offbeat Places

New Mexico Museum of Space HistoryNew Mexico Museum of Space History, Alamogordo, NM - < 1 mi.
Air Duct ManAir Duct Man, Alamogordo, NM - 3 mi.
Shroud Exhibit and MuseumShroud Exhibit and Museum, Alamogordo, NM - 3 mi.
In the region:
Valley of Fires Lava Fields, Carrizozo, NM - 53 mi.

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