Atlas-D Mercury | Big Joe 1

Status

Suborbital

Partial Failure

Big Joe 1

Launch Time
Wed Sep 09, 1959 08:19 UTC

Booster jettison failed due to bad electrical contacts. Planned range not achieved. Boilerplate Mercury capsule successfully recovered.

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Rocket

Atlas-D Mercury

Image Credit: USAF or NASA

NASA

Status: Retired

Liftoff Thrust: 1,880 kN

Payload to LEO: 1,360 kg

Stages: 2

Strap-ons: 0

Rocket Height: 28.7 m

Details

Mission Details

Big Joe 1

Big Joe 1 (Atlas-10D) launched an uncrewed boilerplate Mercury capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The purposes of the Big Joe 1 were to test the Mercury spacecraft ablative heat shield, afterbody heating, reentry dynamics attitude control and recovery capability. It was also the first launch of a spacecraft in Project Mercury.

Payloads: 1

Total Mass: 1,159.0 kg

Suborbital

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Location

LC-14, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA

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Stats

Atlas LV-3B

1st mission

1st mission of 1959