The Little Joe 2 was a test of the
Mercury space capsule, carrying the
rhesus monkey Sam (''Macaca mulatta'') close to the edge of space. He was sent to test the space equipment and the adverse effects of space on humans.
The flight was launched December 4, 1959, at 11:15 a.m. ET from
Wallops Island
Wallops Island is a island in Accomack County, Virginia, part of the Virginia Barrier Islands that stretch along the eastern seaboard of the United States. It is just south of Chincoteague Island, a popular tourist destination.
Wallops Isla ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, United States. Little Joe 2 flew to an altitude of 55 miles (88 km). It was recovered with the monkey intact and alive in the Atlantic Ocean by the
USS ''Borie''. Sam was one of a series of
monkeys in space
Before humans went into space in the 1960s, several other animals were launched into space, including numerous other primates, so that scientists could investigate the biological effects of spaceflight. The United States launched flights co ...
. Sam, from the School of Aviation Medicine in San Antonio, Texas, received his name as an acronym of the facility. Sam experienced up to 12Gs and three minutes of weightlessness. The flight time was 11 minutes, 6 seconds, with a payload of 1,007 kg.
The
boilerplate Mercury spacecraft used in the Little Joe 2 mission is currently displayed at
Airpower Park and Museum, Hampton, Virginia.
See also
*
Little Joe (rocket)
Little Joe was a solid-fueled booster rocket used by NASA for eight launches from 1959 to 1961 from Wallops Island, Virginia to test the launch escape system and heat shield for Project Mercury capsules, as well as the name given to the test pro ...
*
Miss Sam, NASA Project Mercury rhesus monkey
*
Albert II, rhesus monkey who became the first primate and first mammal in space on June 14, 1949
*
Splashdown
Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft or launch vehicle in a body of water, usually by parachute. This has been the primary recovery method of American capsules including NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Orion along with th ...
*
List of individual monkeys
This annotated list of individual monkeys includes monkeys who are in some way famous or notable. The list does not include notable apes or fictional primates.
Monkey actors
* Crystal – (brown capuchin) played in ''The Hangover Part II'', ''N ...
References
{{Project Mercury
Project Mercury
1959 in spaceflight