Little Joe 1A (LJ-1A) was an uncrewed rocket launched as part of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's
Mercury program
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...
on November 4, 1959. This flight, a repeat of the
Little Joe 1 (LJ-1) launch, was to test a launch abort under high aerodynamic load conditions. After lift-off, the pressure sensing system was to indicate when the correct abort dynamic pressure was reached.
This should have happened about thirty seconds after launch.
A signal was sent to the
explosive bolts to separate the spacecraft from the
launch vehicle
A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...
.
Up to this point, everything was going as planned.
The impulse was also intended to ignite the escape motor.
The motor was ignited, but it took a number of seconds to build up thrust, and thus the abort maneuver was not accomplished at the desired dynamic pressure.
Because of this, a repeat of the test was planned. Other events from launch through recovery occurred without incident.
An altitude of 9 statute miles (14.5 km) and a range of 11.5 statute miles (18.5 km) were obtained, and a speed of 2,021.6 miles per hour (3,254 km/h) was reached. Flight time 8 minutes 11 seconds.
Payload 1,007 kg.
See also
*
Little Joe
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Joe 1a
1959 in spaceflight
November 1959 in the United States
Project Mercury