National Geographic's photo gallery of monkeys involved in the space program.
Sam's mission was to test the craft's launch escape system. About a minute into the flight, Sam's capsule was ejected from the rocket. After soaring 51 miles (82 kilometers) above Earth, the capsule landed in the Atlantic Ocean, where Sam, unhurt, was recovered. The monkey was later returned to a training colony, and he lived until 1982.
He was probably pissed that all he got was a banana afterwards.