Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Nov. 29, 2024.

A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.

On Nov. 29, 1961, Enos the chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 spacecraft, which orbited Earth twice before returning. Enos became the first chimpanzee to orbit the Earth, which added to the attention for the mission.

NASA was a fairly new program, so sending Enos up was deemed necessary before orbiting an astronaut in a Mercury capsule.

The Deseret News followed successes of the budding space program with great interest and national pride.

But according to space historians, Enos never found too much fame or, presumably, fortune.

Per the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, Ham, his compatriot from the U.S. Ai

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