Since the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union have been locked in a long Cold War, at which time the United States and the Soviet Union want to assert their status as great powers in various fields, and they can no longer meet their wishes in political and military terms alone, so they began to explore outer space.
The Soviet Union took the lead and sent a dog named Laika to outer space, but Laika did not return to Earth smoothly, Laika died in the field of outer space, it made outstanding contributions to the space industry of mankind, and at this time the United States found that Laika failed to return, and knew that the Soviet Union's manned space program had failed, so the United States was eager to try, looking forward to a successful manned space flight.
So the United States decided to follow the example of the Soviet Union and use an animal to help them spearhead the manned space program, the Soviet Union used a dog, and the United States used a gorilla from Africa.
American scientists chose chimpanzees as astronauts to participate in the manned spaceflight program because they had long discovered that chimpanzees were superior in intelligence, and most chimpanzees had intelligence comparable to two-year-olds. Once a chimpanzee has been systematically trained, it is fully capable of flight planning and missions.
In 1959, the United States established a chimpanzee astronaut school in New Mexico, with a total of more than 40 students in this school, and these more than 40 students are chimpanzees with an average age of 2~3 years old. Every day, professionals come to train them, and after a rigorous training, a chimpanzee named Hamm finally comes to the fore.
In 1961, Hamda carried Crystal II on a space roam, and the American manned spaceflight program was successful because Hamm successfully returned home. After returning home, Hamm was also rewarded, he got an apple and half an orange, and the scientists also comprehensively examined Hamm's body and found that Hamm was normal, so he sent Hamm to the National Zoo in Washington and let him spend the rest of his life.
As a chimpanzee flying to outer space, Hamm was also cared for in Washington Animal Plains, and there were professionals accompanying Hamm to test his body. Shortly after Hamm arrived at the Washington Zoo, professionals discovered that Hamm's heart beat twice as fast as a normal chimpanzee, and that it was accompanied by very severe muscle wasting and osteoporosis.
Normal gorillas live about 40 years, but Hamm only lived 25 years before dying, as a chimpanzee that has made great contributions to the human manned space program, after a successful return, only got an apple and half an orange.