In this information and entertaining book, featuring bold and lively illustrations, Richard Hilliard celebrates the achievement of Ham, the astrochimp and space hero. On January 31, 1961, a three-year-old chimpanzee named Ham made history in the U.S. space program. Strapped inside a Mercury capsule, the little chimp blasted off into the sky, becoming the first intelligent being to ride an American rocket into suborbital space. Ham made a vital contribution to the country's space program. Because there were so many unanswered questions about space travel, scientists could not risk sending humans on a journey into the unknown. Chimpanzees, however, were perfect space pioneers. Ham forged the way into the outer reaches of space so that human astronauts could follow.