VOLUME IV DUMBER 24
ABLE, bakek indicate space travel possible
WASHINGTON (xJ?PS) —’’Able Baker perfect. No injuries
o other difficulties.” These words, radioed from the
Navy tug Kiowa to Cape Canaveral, Fla., signaled the
success of a mission of vast importance.
For before man can risk his first voyage to outer
space, scientists must be certain they can bring him
safely back to earth.
With the success of the Monkey Able arid Baker Ex
periment, American scientists now have an indication
that this can be done. In a joint effort between Army
Air Force, National Aeronautics aha. space Administra
tion and ^avy rocket experts, a Jupiter IR3M was sent
1,500 miles down the Atlantic 'Missile Range with a
pair of monkeys for passengers in the nose cone that
was successfully recovered.'
The astromi.nks, named Able .and Baker for the first
two letters of the international voice code, traveled
the distance in separate compartments in the nose
cone that reached an altitude of 300 miles and :speeds
up to 10,000 m.p.h.
Monkey Able, an African-born Rhesus monkey, and
her partner Baker, a squirrel moidcoy, spent approxi
mately nine minutes of their 15-minute ' flight in a
weightless state and showed no apparent ill-effects
to the sdentists that examined them after tiieir his
tory- makin^ trip.
’Weighing just seven pounds, she was responsible
for telemetering 16 channels of information back to
earth during her flight, (con't on page 3)
15 Juno 1959
ASTRQMONK ABLE -
rtrmy doctors trained iicnkej
Able over a period of several
months,. She was one of a co
lony of e ignt monkeys trainee
for the experiment and was
not specifically selected foi
the trip until three days be
fore the launching.
13 ND—6244
- Navy-BP PO ISNDBremerton, Wash.