January 31 - Launch of Apollo 14

Today also marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 14, which landed on the Moon in Fra Mauro.

January 31 - Ham the Chimp

This year, January 31st also marks the 50th anniversary of the flight of Ham the chimpanzee. Ham flew a suborbital mission on Mercury-Redstone 2.

January 31 - Explorer I

January 31st is a day rife with space anniversaries. On this day in 1958, Explorer I became the first American satellite to reach orbit.

January 30

 

Astronauts Elliot See, Pete Conrad and Neil Armstrong training in a Gemini survival raft.

(Photo: Ralph Morse)

January 29

John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, hamming it up after a press conference in 1961.
The LIFE caption is vague, but I believe this was the press conference that announced Glenn as the pilot of MA-5, with Carpenter as his backup.
(Photo: Ralph Morse)

Photoset Friday, January 28 - Space Monkeys

A neat photoset featuring "space monkeys" and the scientists who study them, by photographer Grey Villet. Unfortunately the year is not specified, but it's certainly 1961 or earlier.

January 27

Godspeed to the crew of Apollo 1.
(Photo: Ralph Morse)