NASA Atlas LV-3B Mercury-Atlas 3
Atlas LV-3B
Status
Failure
Date
25 APR 1961
16:15
Launch Provider
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Launch Pad
Space Launch Complex 14
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Mission Overview
Uncrewed test flight of the Mercury program. The launch proceeded normally until about T+20 seconds when the pitch and roll sequence failed to initiate and the vehicle instead just continued flying straight upward, requiring early termination of the flight.
Rocket
Atlas LV-3B
Mission Type
Test Flight
Orbit
Suborbital
Stages
1
Livestream
Not availableRocket Details
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.
Height
28.7 m
Diameter
3 m
Launch Mass
120 T
Thrust
1,300 kN