Editing Ham (chimpanzee) (section)

==Later life==
[[File:Ham Retreival GPN-2000-001004.jpg|thumb|upright|Ham is greeted by the commander of the recovery ship after his flight]]
[[File:Mercury-Redstone 2 Capsule.jpg|thumb|upright|The Mercury-Redstone 2 capsule that carried Ham to space on display at the [[California Science Center]] in [[Los Angeles, California]]]]
[[File: Grave of Ham the Astrochimp.jpg|thumb|upright|Ham's grave at the [[New Mexico Museum of Space History]] in [[Alamogordo, New Mexico]]]]
Ham retired from the [[NASA|National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) in 1963.<ref name=":0">Schierkolk, Andrea (July 2015). "HAM, A Space Pioneer". ''Military Medicine''. '''180''' (7): 835 – via Oxford Academic.</ref> On April 5, 1963, Ham was transferred to the [[National Zoological Park (United States)|National Zoo]] in Washington, D.C., where he lived for 17 years<ref name="Animals in Space">{{cite book|last1=Burgess|first1=Colin|author1-link=Colin Burgess (author)|last2=Dubbs|first2=Chris|title=Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle|series=Springer-Praxis Books in Space Exploration|publisher=|isbn=978-0-387-36053-9|oclc=77256557|date=January 24, 2007}}</ref>{{Rp|255–257}} before joining a small group of chimps at [[North Carolina Zoo]] on September 25, 1980.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/animal-magic/2013/dec/16/ham-chimpanzee-hero-or-victim|title=Ham the astrochimp: hero or victim?|date=December 16, 2013|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

Ham suffered from chronic heart and liver disease.<ref name=":0" /> On January 19, 1983, at age 25, Ham died.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ham, First Chimp in Space, Dies in a Carolina Zoo at 26 |id={{ProQuest|122119079}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/20/us/ham-first-chimp-in-space-dies-in-a-carolina-zoo-at-26.html |work=The New York Times |date=20 January 1983 }}</ref> After his death, Ham's body was given to the [[Armed Forces Institute of Pathology]] for [[Autopsy#Other animals (necropsy)|necropsy]]. Following the necropsy, the plan was to have him taxidermied and placed on display at the [[Smithsonian Institution]], following Soviet precedent with pioneering [[Soviet space dogs|space dogs]] [[Belka and Strelka]]. However, this plan was abandoned after a negative public reaction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schierkolk |first=Andrea |date=July 2015 |title=HAM, A Space Pioneer |journal=Military Medicine |volume=180 |issue=7 |pages=836 |doi=10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00033 |pmid=26126257 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Ham's skeleton is held in the collection of the [[National Museum of Health and Medicine]], Silver Spring, Maryland,<ref name="Nicholls"/> and the rest of Ham's remains were buried at the [[New Mexico Museum of Space History#International Space Hall of Fame|International Space Hall of Fame]] in Alamogordo, New Mexico. [[John Stapp|Colonel John Stapp]] gave the eulogy at the memorial service.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roach|first=Mary|title=Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void|url=https://archive.org/details/packingformarscu00roac|url-access=limited|year=2010|publisher=Norton|isbn=978-0393068474|pages=[https://archive.org/details/packingformarscu00roac/page/160 160]–163}}</ref>

Ham's backup, Minnie, was the only female chimpanzee trained for the Mercury program. After her role in the Mercury program ended, Minnie became part of an Air Force chimpanzee breeding program, producing nine offspring and helping to raise the offspring of several other members of the chimpanzee colony.<ref name="Animals in Space" />{{Rp|258–259}} She was the last surviving astro-chimpanzee and died at age 41 on March 14, 1998.<ref name="Animals in Space" />{{Rp|259}}