When Ham set off on his space flight in 1961, he paved the way for the first American to go to space months later.

On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee by the name of Ham blasted off on a Mercury-Redstone rocket and became the first hominid to go to space. Ham reached an altitude of 157 miles during a 16 and a ...

Through amateur — or “ham”— radio communication, sixth graders at Pine View spoke to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station Tuesday.

A packed Pine View School auditorium held its breath as Steve Phillips spoke into the static. “NA1SS, NA1SS from W4PVS for scheduled ARISS contact. Over?” No response on the first attempt.