LJ-5
Little Joe
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission
LJ-5
Type: Test Flight
Suborbital test flight of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. The objective was to test a production Mercury capsule and the launch escape system during an ascent abort at maximum dynamic pressure. Sixteen seconds after liftoff, the escape rocket and the tower jettison rocket both fired prematurely. Furthermore, the booster, capsule, and escape tower failed to separate as intended. The entire stack was destroyed on impact with the Atlantic Ocean.
Location
Launch Area 1
Wallops Island, Virginia, USA
74 rockets have launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, USA.
Rocket
Little Joe – North American Aviation
- Family: Little Joe
- Length: 17 m
The Little Joe was manufactured by North American Aviation with the first launch on 1959-08-21. Little Joe has 3 successful launches and 5 failed launches with a total of 8 launches. Little Joe was a solid-fueled booster rocket used by NASA for eight launches from 1959-1960 from Wallops Island, Virginia to test the launch escape system and heat shield for Project Mercury capsules.
Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration – NASA
- Type: Government
- Abbreviation: NASA
- Administration: Administrator: Bill Nelson
- Founded: 1958
- Launchers: Space Shuttle | SLS
- Spacecraft: Orion
- Country: USA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
