Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Alabama Huntsville The Grave of Miss Baker
AO Edited

The Grave of Miss Baker

Bananas are often left for the first monkey America ever recovered alive after being launched into space.

Huntsville, Alabama

Added By
Eric Grundhauser
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The Grave of Miss Baker   mike fabio/CC BY-SA 2.0
The Grave of Miss Baker   NASA/Public Domain
The Grave of Miss Baker   NASA/Public Domain
The Grave of Miss Baker   NASA/Public Domain
Miss Baker’s Headstone   Trey Tatum, 2015.
To find the Miss Baker Memorial, look for this landmark, outside the Gift Shop   Trey Tatum, 2015.
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Scott Terrell / Atlas Obscura User
  Scott Terrell / Atlas Obscura User
The Miss Baker Memorial, outside the gift shop, next to the bus drop-off   Trey Tatum, 2015.
The Grave of Miss Baker   Matthew H Ward / Atlas Obscura User
Headstone of Big George, Miss Baker’s first Husband   Trey Tatum, 2015.
Summer morning.   bradhopkins / Atlas Obscura User
  chasepopt / Atlas Obscura User
His and hers   k8ydid / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

America began sending monkeys toward the stars in 1948, but it was not until the launch of the loving squirrel monkey known as "Miss Baker" in 1959 that they were able to recover one alive.

The American space program had previously succeeded in recovering fruit flies after sub-orbital space flight, but the higher primates quickly became a problem. While Russia was already sending dogs into space and recovering them alive, the animals that America sent into space—without their consent, of course—kept dying, often inside exploding rockets, or upon return impact, or simply by being lost in their capsules at sea.

The program purchased Miss Baker, along with dozens of other monkeys, from a Miami pet shop. She quickly stood out from the pack of other test animals as she withstood confinement, electrodes, and more. In the end she and a larger rhesus monkey known as "Miss Able" were selected to be sent into space, as various countries vied to outpace each other—often using tactics that are now controversial, such as sending unwilling, non-human creatures up into space before we ventured there.

The monkeys were fitted with caps and jackets to wear into space and crammed into metal monitoring capsules which kept them confined. Electrodes were surgically placed in the animals. Then in the wee hours of May 28, 1959, the duo was placed into a Jupiter rocket and shot 300 miles into the sky. The flight only lasted 16 minutes, over half of which consisted of weightlessness, and the rocket landed safely, for the first time, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Both of the monkeys were pulled from the capsule alive, but unfortunately Miss Able died four days later from too much anesthesia while surgeons attempted to remove her electrodes. Both animals were featured on the cover of Life magazine, and Baker's star rose. Hundreds of letters poured in from admirers and she was given a cushy life during which she was "married" to not one, but two other monkeys.

Miss Baker lived at the Naval Aerospace Medical Center in Pensacola, Florida until 1971. In 1962, Pensacola caretakers held a marriage ceremony to wed Miss Baker to Big George, who predeceased Miss Baker on January 8, 1979. Three months later, Miss Baker was wed to Norman, in a ceremony presided over by Alabama District Court judge Dan McCoy. She refused, however, to wear white, pulling off her wedding train moments after it was put on her.

Miss Baker passed away of kidney failure in 1984 at the age of 27, earning her the secondary honor of being the longest lived squirrel monkey on record.

She was buried in a grave outside of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama and given a proper headstone next to her first "husband," Big George. The grave is located right near the entrance of the main building. You'll see the headstone just to the right of the walkway near a grove of trees. Admirers and fans of the little astronaut still come by and leave bananas on her headstone. The body of Miss Able is on display (in her flight capsule) at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

The Atlas Obscura Podcast is a short, daily celebration of all the world's strange and wondrous places. Check out this episode about Miss Baker.

Related Tags

Space Exploration Animals Gravestones Monkeys Graves

Community Contributors

Added By

EricGrundhauser

Edited By

treytatum, Mike Portanova, Molly McBride Jacobson, lysha...

  • treytatum
  • Mike Portanova
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • lysha
  • Collector of Experiences
  • chasepopt
  • Matthew H Ward
  • Scott Terrell
  • k8ydid
  • bradhopkins

Published

July 6, 2015

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14867
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Baker
  • http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104578202
  • http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0005382.htm
The Grave of Miss Baker
1 Tranquility Base
Huntsville, Alabama, 35805
United States
34.712145, -86.650382
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

MPTA-098

Huntsville, Alabama

miles away

Pathfinder and the MPTA-ET

Huntsville, Alabama

miles away

Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment

Huntsville, Alabama

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Huntsville

Huntsville

Alabama

Places 7
Stories 3

Nearby Places

MPTA-098

Huntsville, Alabama

miles away

Pathfinder and the MPTA-ET

Huntsville, Alabama

miles away

Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment

Huntsville, Alabama

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Huntsville

Huntsville

Alabama

Places 7
Stories 3

Related Stories and Lists

11 Graves of Famous Animals

List

By Roxanne Hoorn

5 of Our Favorite Podcast Episodes to Celebrate Winter Wonder

meteorites

By The Podcast Team

The Grave of Miss Baker

Podcast

By The Podcast Team

27 Headstones That Defied Expectations

cemeteries

By Molly McBride Jacobson

A Whirlwind Tour of Space Race Relics

abandoned

By Molly McBride Jacobson

A Graphic Guide to Space Animals

space exploration

By Atlas Obscura

Related Places

  • Happy Woodlawn Pet Cemetery.

    Aurora, Ontario

    Happy Woodlawn Pet Cemetery

    Canada's first pet cemetery is now abandoned.

  • Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery

    Dedham, Massachusetts

    Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery

    This memorial garden is the final resting place of many beloved pets including that of a famous explorer.

  • The gravestone.

    Edinburgh, Scotland

    Grave of 'The Great Lafayette'

    A magician and his beloved, pampered canine were buried together, within days of each other, due to a tragic twist of fate.

  • Stockholm, Sweden

    Pompes Grav (Pompe the Dog's Grave)

    A tombstone on the grounds of the royal castle marks the burial site of a Swedish king's beloved dog.

  • The front of Barratt’s grave.

    Middletown, Connecticut

    Joseph Barratt's Grave

    The gravestone of an eccentric Connecticut doctor features dinosaur tracks and a pair of fossil tree casts.

  • Giro’s Gravestone

    London, England

    Giro the Dog's Grave

    The final resting place of a German diplomat's beloved companion.

  • Stockholm, Sweden

    The Grave of Morgan

    A simple stone remembers one of the most menacing horses in the Swedish military.

  • State Hospital Memorial Marker For Traverse Colantha Walker.

    Traverse City, Michigan

    Traverse Colantha Walker's Grave

    The world champion cow is buried within a historic old asylum.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.