In an effort to “pay them back for their service”, astronauts Bob Crippen and Scott Carpenter recently visited a Florida island rescue sanctuary for chimpanzees.  While some of the chimps in the sanctuary were involved in the space program or are their descendants, many others have been involved in medical research.  Until this sanctuary was developed, many such research chimps have lived their lives out in cages after serving the purpose of researchers.  Before coming to the sanctuary, one chimp, Gromek, who had been used in blood studies, had been in his cage for over 40 years without ever leaving.

Other space chimps living at the compound include Gogi, Dana, and Lil’ Mini, daughter of the back up chimp, Mini.  The sanctuary allows the chimps to live in social groups of about twenty-five.  Because they cannot swim, water around the islands keeps them contained.  The so called “space chimps” were sent into space in the Mercury space program of 1950’s and 1960’s to see if sending men into space was safe.  At the time, there were fears that man could not outside of the earth’s atmosphere.  The work of the chimps allowed the space program to continue.  There are currently about 150 chimps at the compound and room for 300.