Because he went to space in a rocket and was returned alive.
Yes Ham survived the trip. Watch on Youtube:The Story Of Ham: 1st Chimp In Space
Search for Ham the Chimp, visit his Wikipedia, and you'll see a picture of his famous handshake. Even better watch Natural World Space Chimp on bbc i player before it is removed. Extremely fascinating and moving. If you watch the film One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps (www.spacechimps.com), Dr. Jane Goodall states that many of the photos of Ham showing him grinning are actually some of the worst expressions of fear she has ever seen in a chimpanzee.
31 January 1961
Heart attack. The only disclosed info. - j.dsocal
Ham the chimp or Ham the astro-chimp. His name was an acronym for the lab that sent him on the mission. "the holloman aerospace medical centre"
Lakia the Russian Dog, Ham the Chimp and Albert the Rhesus Monkey.
Ham, the chimp that helped pioneer the U.S. space program, resided at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, N.C. from September 1980 until in death in January 1983. Rod Hackney Public Relations Mgr. North Carolina Zoo
Her father gave her a toy chimpanzee named Jubilee after a chimp that was famous at the London Zoo at that time.
The Famous Teddy Z - 1989 Bobby the Chimp 1-3 was released on: USA: 2 October 1989
A female dog by the name of: Laika in November 1957 And a chimp by the name of: Ham in January 1961
Ham (1957 - January 19, 1983), also known as Ham the Chimp and Ham the Astrochimp, was a chimpanzee and the first hominid launched into space, on January 31, 1961, as part of America's space program. Ham's name is an acronym for the lab that prepared him for his historic mission - the Holloman Aerospace ...
I can't find any signs that Charlie the Karate Chimp has died anywhere on the internet. There was another chimp with the name Charlie who became famous as "Charlie the Smoking Chimpanzee" who died last year at the age of 52.