Big Joe 1

Big Joe 1

Crew
Members	0
End of mission

File:GPN-2002-000045.jpg

First Atlas launch of a Mercury boilerplate capsule - September 1959(NASA)

Big Joe 1 ( Atlas 10-D) launched an unmanned boilerplate Mercury capsule from Cape Canaveral, FL. on September 9, 1959. The objective of "Big Joe" was to test the Mercury spacecraft ablating heatshield. The flight was both a success and failure - the heatshield survived reentry and was in remarkably good condition when retrieved from the Atlantic. The Atlas-D booster, however, failed to stage and separated too late from the Mercury capsule. Due to the added weight of the unseparated booster engines, the sustainer engine depleted its fuel supply 14 seconds early. The boilerplate capsule was not equipped with a launch escape system.

The boilerplate Mercury capsule flew a 1,424 mile (2,292 km) ballistic flight to the altitude of 90 miles (145 km). The capsule was recovered and studied for the effect of re-entry heat and other flight stresses from its 13 minute flight. Since the data from Big Joe 1 satisfied NASA requirements, a second Mercury launch, Big Joe 2 (Atlas 20D), which had been scheduled for the fall of 1959, was cancelled and the launch vehicle was transferred to another program.

Capsule weight 2,555 lb (1,159 kg). Serial numbers: Atlas 628/10-D, Mercury spacecraft - prototype.

The boilerplate Mercury spacecraft used in the Big Joe mission is currently displayed at the National Air and Space Museum's Garber Facility in Washington D.C.

References

• This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury - NASA SP-4201
• NASA NSSDC Master Catalog
• Project Mercury preliminary flight test results of the Big Joe, Mercury R and D capsule (PDF) October 1959

See also

• Splashdown