His Latin name was Pan Saturnus, for "primitive little man." And 25 years ago, this primitive little man proved that mankind -- Homo Sapiens, for "modern big man" -- could live and work in space.

More in a moment . . .

The primitive little man was a chimpanzee. His name was HAM, an acronym for the Holloman AeroMedical research lab. HAM the astrochimp represents yet another chapter in New Mexico's sizeable contribution to the American space program. In the early 1960's, NASA was giving more and more thought to putting a man in space. Rats, mice, and monkeys had already been in space, but too many questions still remained. How would space conditions such as weightlessness affect humans? As man's closest relative, the chimpanzee was chosen for the next test flights. A small group of chimps went through basic training at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo. The astrochimps were then transferred to Cape Kennedy.

As launch time drew near, one chimp was chosen from the group because of his outstanding intelligence and good humor. That was HAM. On January 31st, 1961, HAM made use of his New Mexico training as he rode a rocket more than 150 miles above Earth -- traveling nearly 6,000 miles per hour. He spent almost seven minutes in weightlessness, and returned to Earth in tiptop shape. He did not, however, want to return to his space capsule for news photographers.

Following his historic flight, HAM lived out his life in a North Carolina zoo. He died of natural causes in 1983, and his remains were returned to southern New Mexico. Today, a memorial garden and plaque mark HAM's gravesite at the Space Center in Alamogordo.

To learn more about the astrochimp and New Mexico's important role in the space program, visit the New Mexico Museum of Space History.