In 1959, the United States Air Force captured dozens of baby chimpanzees in Africa, transporting them to Alamogordo, New Mexico, where they and their offspring were to endure a grueling life as the ultimate human stand-ins.

We humans soon enlisted them in the space race and in the fight against AIDS; we trained them to entertain us in the circus, in Hollywood, and on TV.

From experiments in space travel and high-velocity crash tests, to pharmaceutical testing and hepatitis and AIDS research, to roles on the silver and small screens, these original Air Force chimpanzees and many others that followed gave their lives to benefit humankind.

With almost 99 percent of the same DNA as humans, chimpanzees are genetically closer to us than they are to gorillas. But their treatment in America over the last half-century has been very callously unkind for our next of kin in the animal world.

But now, a few extraordinary people are working to give some of them their lives back.

These chimpanzees' stories, along with the remarkable efforts by individuals and organizations to give them a second chance at life, are told in "Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History," which kicks off NATURE's 25th anniversary season. The program airs on PBS Sunday, November 5th, at 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET.

Dr. Carole Noon, founder and director of the organization Save the Chimps, is one of those individuals. With her group, she is working to create a multi-island habitat in central Florida, the single largest effort on behalf of chimpanzees in North America.

Through the story of Lou, a 42-year-old Air Force chimp, viewers will learn how the government eventually leased its chimpanzees to the Coulston Foundation, which was repeatedly fined for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

In September 2002, battling bankruptcy, Coulston sold its animals to Save the Chimps, and Noon became custodian of more than 260 of these chimpanzees.

"I find all of this heartbreaking," says Noon, surveying the former Coulston facilities, which she has been overhauling for several years.

The program also witnesses the journey of two chimps, Ron and Thoto, from New Mexico to a new life in Florida, where on his first night; Thoto refuses to come inside, choosing instead to spend his first night of freedom beneath the moon and stars.

In its first 24 seasons, NATURE has won more than 360 honors from the television industry, parent groups, the international wildlife film community, and environmental organizations, including eight Emmys, two Peabodys, and the first award given to a television program by the Sierra Club.

I’ll definitely be watching this television show.  Will you?