This is the story of Ham, the first hominid to be launched into space. After his brave space mission, Ham splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, to emerge from the rocket with nothing but a mere bruise on his nose.

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Upon his return to Earth from the International Space Station on May 9, 2001, California millionaire Dennis Tito speaks at a press conference about his experience as the world's first space tourist. The tycoon reportedly paid the Russian space program $20 million for the trip into outer space.

President Kennedy establishes his New Frontier with a challenge to venture into outer space. John Glenn became the first American astronaut to orbit the earth, one step in America's endeavor to land on the moon.

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Just after liftoff of the space shuttle Atlantis on July 8, 2011, Kennedy Space Center Mission Control notes the historic moment. NASA retired the 30-year-old space shuttle program, making this the final space shuttle flight.

On May 28, 1959, in an experiment that would lead the way to manned space flight, the United States launched two monkeys to an altitude of 300 miles. A Voice of America news report details the travels of the two primates who survived the space flight and were the first in history to return safely to Earth.

On April 12, 1981, NASA launched the world's first reusable manned spacecraft. In the minutes before takeoff, Kennedy Space Center launch control communicates with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen as they prepare to take Columbia on its first test flight into space and back.