Mercury Capsule, 1959. Creator: NASA
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Mercury Capsule, 1959. Creator: NASA
On September 9, 1959, NASA launched this unoccupied Mercury spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a suborbital flight that lasted 13 minutes. Its launch was the second in the Mercury program and the first using an Atlas booster. The flight helped NASA evaluate the booster, the new ablative heat shield, the capsules flight dynamics and aerodynamic shape, and spacecraft recovery systems and procedures. The heavily instrumented " Big Joe" was the most massive American spacecraft launched up to that time. It weighed about as much as a manned version would, and its success paved the way for the beginning of manned Mercury launches in 1961
Media ID 23877509
© Heritage Art/Heritage Images
1950s Air And Space Museum Fifties Langley Research Center Nasa Nasm National Air And Space Museum Project Mercury Space Space Travel Spacecraft Spacecraft Manned Test Vehicles
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