Yorick vs Able

Yorick, also referred to as Albert VI, was a rhesus monkey who participated in an Aerobee rocket flight on September 20, 1951, launched from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. The flight carried Yorick and 11 mice to an altitude of approximately 45 miles (72 kilometers), reaching the edge of space. Yorick became the first monkey to be recovered alive after a rocket flight, though he died sever...

Able was a rhesus macaque born at the Ralph Mitchell Zoo in Kansas who became one of the first primates to survive a spaceflight. On May 28, 1959, Able and a squirrel monkey named Miss Baker were launched into suborbital space aboard a Jupiter AM-18 rocket by the United States. The successful recovery of both animals provided crucial data on the biological effects of space travel. Unfortunately, A...