When MR-2 splashed down no ships had yet reached the vicinity, having landed some 100 km from the nearest recovery ship, the destroyer USS Ellison. A P2V search plane located the capsule about 27 minutes after splashdown. Helicopters were dispatched from the USS Donner as at least two additional hours were still required for the Ellison to arrive. Although when the search plane had located the capsule it was floating upright, by the time the helicopters arrived they found MR-2 on its side and taking on water. It was determined that the beryllium heatshield had skipped on the water on impact, bouncing against the capsule bottom and puncturing two holes in the titanium pressure bulkhead. In addition, the plastic landing bag had worn badly, resulting in the heat shield being torn free. Water entering the cabin became worse when the capsule capsized, allowing more water to enter via the open cabin pressure valve. When the helicopter latched onto the capsule, the pilot estimated an extra load of nearly 800 pounds due to the sea water. Ham was retuened safely to the Donner, apparently no worse for the wear. Sometime later, after his flight, he was shown the spacecraft and it was visually apparent he had no further interest in cooperating with the program.Alternate NamesMR-2MercuryRedstone2Facts in BriefLaunch Date: 1961-01-31Launch Vehicle: RedstoneLaunch Site: Cape Canaveral, United StatesFunding AgencyNASA-Office of Manned Space Flight (United States)DisciplinesEngineeringLife ScienceAdditional Information, Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) was the test flight of the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle just prior to the first crewed American space mission in Project Mercury. Carrying a chimpanzee named Ham on a suborbital flight, Mercury spacecraft Number 5 was launched at 16:55 UTC on January 31, 1961, from LC-5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida., Sub-orbital test preceding the first manned flight on 5 May 1961. (Credit NASA, click to enlarge) Ham being readied for flight. The MR-2 capsule is currently located at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, CA. NOTE: The displayed patch is completely unofficial, developed privately well after the fact..