Miss Baker (1957 - November 29, 1984) was a squirrel monkey who became, along with rhesus monkey Miss Able, one of the first two animals launched into space by the United States and recovered alive. Miss Baker wore a tiny helmet lined with rubber and cham
Miss Baker (1957 - November 29, 1984) was a squirrel monkey who became, along with rhesus monkey Miss Able, one of the first two animals launched into space by the United States and recovered alive. Miss Baker wore a tiny helmet lined with rubber and chamois leather plus a tiny jacket for launch, in addition to a respiration meter affixed to her nose with model cement, and she was fitted into a snug capsule of shoebox size, 9 3/4 x 12 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches insulated with rubber and fiberglass. Life support was an oxygen bottle with a pressure valve, and lithium hydroxide to absorb exhaled carbon dioxide and moisture. On May 28, 1959, at 2:39 am, a Jupiter rocket lofted Miss Baker and Miss Able to an altitude of 300 miles (480 km) through an acceleration of 38 gs for a 16 minute flight which also included 9 minutes of weightlessness. The flight traveled 1,500 miles downrange from the pad at Cape Canaveral launch complex 26B to the Atlantic Ocean near Puerto Rico where the capsule was recovered by USS Kiowa. Owing to their successful return from space, Able and Baker appeared on the cover of Life magazine, June 15, 1959. She died, in 1984, of kidney failure at a clinic at Auburn University after attaining the record for oldest living squirrel monkey, 27 years old. Miss Baker is buried on the grounds at the Space & Rocket Center. Her tombstone routinely has one or more bananas on top.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1950s, 1959, 20th, aeronautics, american, americana, animal, astronaut, baker, bizarre, bw, century, cone, days, fauna, female, flight, good, historic, historical, history, jupiter, mammal, missile, monkey, nasa, nineteen-fifties, nose, nostalgia, nostalgic, odd, ole, peculiar, pioneer, quirky, retro, sentimental, sentimentality, space, squirrel, strange, travel, unusual, wacky, weird
