LAUNCH MISSION
NASA Atlas LV-3B Big Joe 1
Status
Partial Failure
DATE
9 SEP 1959
LAUNCH PROVIDER
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Launch Pad
Space Launch Complex 14
Description
Suborbital flight with the objective of testing the Mercury spacecraft ablative heat shield. The Atlas booster section failed to jettison, leading to a lower apogee. It was nonetheless sufficient to satisfy the Mercury spacecraft team.
Atlas LV-3B
Rocket Description
The Atlas LV-3B, Atlas D Mercury Launch Vehicle or Mercury-Atlas Launch Vehicle, was a human-rated expendable launch system used as part of the United States Project Mercury to send astronauts into low Earth orbit. Manufactured by American aircraft manufacturing company Convair, it was derived from the SM-65D Atlas missile, and was a member of the Atlas family of rockets.