chimponaut

plural chimponauts

1. A chimpanzee used in a spaceflight programme.

   After two hours of fussing, Enos. the 5½-year-old chimponaut, was ready to ride the first passenger-carrying orbital flight of U.S. Project Mercury.

   1961 December 8, “Science: Meditative Chimponaut”, in Time

   1 more example

   But scientists around the world have also performed studies that are now considered bizarre or brutal. The U.S. Air Force’s chimponaut program shot them into space.

   2007, Jon Cohen, “The Endangered Lab Chimp”, in Science, volume 315, number 5811, →DOI, page 451

   Synonyms: astrochimp