astrochimp

English

1960, from astro- +‎ chimp, following astronaut. Referring to initial space flight tests involving animals.

astrochimp (plural astrochimps)

(informal) A chimpanzee used in a spaceflight program.
- 1961 February 10, “Great Triple Play”, in Life, volume 50, number 6, page 22:
  Ham the astrochimp is the first earthly creature to do intelligent tasks in space. He and the other astrochimps prepared for this accomplishment at machines like the one at right where they learned to push levers correctly in response to flashing lights.
- 2009 February 25, “Letters: Ham the 'astrochimp', the real hero of the space race”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:
  The real hero of the early American space programme was Ham the "astrochimp", who went up before any of the first American Mercury astronauts (India plans £1.7bn manned space mission by 2015, 24 February; Letters, passim).