November 29, 1961

On This Day in History /
1961: Enos, a chimp trained at Holloman AFB, launched from Cape Canaveral in a Project Mercury capsule into orbit twice around earth. Enos was the second chimpanzee launched into space, but the first and only one to orbit the earth. Enos died the following November.
Enos was selected for his Project Mercury flight only three days before launch. Two months prior, NASA launched Mercury-Atlas 4 on September 13, 1961, to conduct an identical mission with a “crewman simulator” on board. Enos flew into space aboard Mercury-Atlas 5 and completed his first orbit in 1 hour and 28.5 minutes.