Little Joe on launcher at Wallops Island.

Launching of the LJ6 Little Joe on Oct. 4, 1959 took place at Wallops Island, Va. This was the first attempt to launch an instrumented capsule with a Little Joe booster. Only the LJ1A and the LJ6 used the space metal chevron plates as heat reflector shields, as they kept shattering. Caption title ...and ascending skyward on a plume of exhaust. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, page 77, by James Schultz

Assembling the Little Joe capsules. The capsules were manufactured in-house by Langley technicians. Three capsules are shown here in various stages of assembly. The escape tower and rocket motors shown on the completed capsule would be removed before shipping and finally assembly for launching at Wallops Island. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 32): Design of the Little Joe capsules began at Langley before McDonnell started on the design of the Mercury capsule and was, therefore, a separate design. Although it was not designed to carry a man, it did have to carry a monkey. It had to meet the weight and center of gravity requirements of Mercury and withstand the same aerodynamic loads during the exit trajectory. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. Project Mercury: Little Joe: Boilerplate Mercury spacecraft undergo fabrication at the shops of the Langley Research Center. They will launched atop Little Joe rockets to test the spacecraft recovery systems. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition. L59-4947 Technicians prepare a Little Joe launch vehicle prototype for the Mercury space program, 1959. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, page 76, by James Schultz

Assembling the Little Joe capsules. The capsules were manufactured in-house by Langley technicians. Three capsules are shown here in various stages of assembly. The escape tower and rocket motors shown on the completed capsule would be removed before shipping and finally assembly for launching at Wallops Island. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 32): Design of the Little Joe capsules began at Langley before McDonnell started on the design of the Mercury capsule and was, therefore, a separate design. Although it was not designed to carry a man, it did have to carry a monkey. It had to meet the weight and center of gravity requirements of Mercury and withstand the same aerodynamic loads during the exit trajectory. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. Project Mercury: Little Joe: Boilerplate Mercury spacecraft undergo fabrication at the shops of the Langley Research Center. They will launched atop Little Joe rockets to test the spacecraft recovery systems. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition. L59-4947 Technicians prepare a Little Joe launch vehicle prototype for the Mercury space program, 1959. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, page 76, by James Schultz

Assembling the Little Joe capsules. The capsules were manufactured in-house by Langley technicians. Three capsules are shown here in various stages of assembly. The escape tower and rocket motors shown on the completed capsule would be removed before shipping and finally assembly for launching at Wallops Island. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 32): Design of the Little Joe capsules began at Langley before McDonnell started on the design of the Mercury capsule and was, therefore, a separate design. Although it was not designed to carry a man, it did have to carry a monkey. It had to meet the weight and center of gravity requirements of Mercury and withstand the same aerodynamic loads during the exit trajectory. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. Project Mercury: Little Joe: Boilerplate Mercury spacecraft undergo fabrication at the shops of the Langley Research Center. They will launched atop Little Joe rockets to test the spacecraft recovery systems. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition. L59-4947 Technicians prepare a Little Joe launch vehicle prototype for the Mercury space program, 1959. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, page 76, by James Schultz

Assembling the Little Joe capsules. The capsules were manufactured in-house by Langley technicians. Three capsules are shown here in various stages of assembly. The escape tower and rocket motors shown on the completed capsule would be removed before shipping and finally assembly for launching at Wallops Island. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 32): Design of the Little Joe capsules began at Langley before McDonnell started on the design of the Mercury capsule and was, therefore, a separate design. Although it was not designed to carry a man, it did have to carry a monkey. It had to meet the weight and center of gravity requirements of Mercury and withstand the same aerodynamic loads during the exit trajectory. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. Project Mercury: Little Joe: Boilerplate Mercury spacecraft undergo fabrication at the shops of the Langley Research Center. They will launched atop Little Joe rockets to test the spacecraft recovery systems. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition. L59-4947 Technicians prepare a Little Joe launch vehicle prototype for the Mercury space program, 1959. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, page 76, by James Schultz

Assembling the Little Joe capsules. The capsules were manufactured in-house by Langley technicians. Three capsules are shown here in various stages of assembly. The escape tower and rocket motors shown on the completed capsule would be removed before shipping and finally assembly for launching at Wallops Island. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 32): Design of the Little Joe capsules began at Langley before McDonnell started on the design of the Mercury capsule and was, therefore, a separate design. Although it was not designed to carry a man, it did have to carry a monkey. It had to meet the weight and center of gravity requirements of Mercury and withstand the same aerodynamic loads during the exit trajectory. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. Project Mercury: Little Joe: Boilerplate Mercury spacecraft undergo fabrication at the shops of the Langley Research Center. They will launched atop Little Joe rockets to test the spacecraft recovery systems. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition. L59-4947 Technicians prepare a Little Joe launch vehicle prototype for the Mercury space program, 1959. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, page 76, by James Schultz

Assembling the Little Joe capsules. The capsules were manufactured in-house by Langley technicians. Three capsules are shown here in various stages of assembly. The escape tower and rocket motors shown on the completed capsule would be removed before shipping and finally assembly for launching at Wallops Island. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 32): Design of the Little Joe capsules began at Langley before McDonnell started on the design of the Mercury capsule and was, therefore, a separate design. Although it was not designed to carry a man, it did have to carry a monkey. It had to meet the weight and center of gravity requirements of Mercury and withstand the same aerodynamic loads during the exit trajectory. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. Project Mercury: Little Joe: Boilerplate Mercury spacecraft undergo fabrication at the shops of the Langley Research Center. They will launched atop Little Joe rockets to test the spacecraft recovery systems. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition. L59-4947 Technicians prepare a Little Joe launch vehicle prototype for the Mercury space program, 1959. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, page 76, by James Schultz

The Mercury capsule and escape tower are being lowered onto the Little Joe booster for launch on August 21, 1959. Joseph Shortal described this as follows (vol. 3, p. 33): The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

The Mercury capsule and escape tower are being lowered onto the Little Joe booster for launch on August 21, 1959. Joseph Shortal described this as follows (vol. 3, p. 33): The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Technicians adjust the rocket motor during the attachment of the escape tower to the Mercury capsule prior to assembly with Little Joe launcher, August 20, 1959. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3., p. 33): The escape tower and rocket motors were taken from the Mercury capsule production. The tower is shown being attached to the capsule.... The escape rocket was a Grand Central 1-KS-52000 motor with three canted nozzles. The tower-jettison motor was an Atlantic Research Corp. 1.4-KS-785 motor. This was the same design tested in a beach abort test...and had the offset thrust line as used in the beach abort test to insure that the capsule would get away from the booster in an emergency. The escape system weighed 1,015 pounds, including 236 pounds of ballast for stability. The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Technicians adjust the rocket motor during the attachment of the escape tower to the Mercury capsule prior to assembly with Little Joe launcher, August 20, 1959. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3., p. 33): The escape tower and rocket motors were taken from the Mercury capsule production. The tower is shown being attached to the capsule.... The escape rocket was a Grand Central 1-KS-52000 motor with three canted nozzles. The tower-jettison motor was an Atlantic Research Corp. 1.4-KS-785 motor. This was the same design tested in a beach abort test...and had the offset thrust line as used in the beach abort test to insure that the capsule would get away from the booster in an emergency. The escape system weighed 1,015 pounds, including 236 pounds of ballast for stability. The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Technicians adjust the rocket motor during the attachment of the escape tower to the Mercury capsule prior to assembly with Little Joe launcher, August 20, 1959. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3., p. 33): The escape tower and rocket motors were taken from the Mercury capsule production. The tower is shown being attached to the capsule.... The escape rocket was a Grand Central 1-KS-52000 motor with three canted nozzles. The tower-jettison motor was an Atlantic Research Corp. 1.4-KS-785 motor. This was the same design tested in a beach abort test...and had the offset thrust line as used in the beach abort test to insure that the capsule would get away from the booster in an emergency. The escape system weighed 1,015 pounds, including 236 pounds of ballast for stability. The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Technicians adjust the rocket motor during the attachment of the escape tower to the Mercury capsule prior to assembly with Little Joe launcher, August 20, 1959. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3., p. 33): The escape tower and rocket motors were taken from the Mercury capsule production. The tower is shown being attached to the capsule.... The escape rocket was a Grand Central 1-KS-52000 motor with three canted nozzles. The tower-jettison motor was an Atlantic Research Corp. 1.4-KS-785 motor. This was the same design tested in a beach abort test...and had the offset thrust line as used in the beach abort test to insure that the capsule would get away from the booster in an emergency. The escape system weighed 1,015 pounds, including 236 pounds of ballast for stability. The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Technicians adjust the rocket motor during the attachment of the escape tower to the Mercury capsule prior to assembly with Little Joe launcher, August 20, 1959. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3., p. 33): The escape tower and rocket motors were taken from the Mercury capsule production. The tower is shown being attached to the capsule.... The escape rocket was a Grand Central 1-KS-52000 motor with three canted nozzles. The tower-jettison motor was an Atlantic Research Corp. 1.4-KS-785 motor. This was the same design tested in a beach abort test...and had the offset thrust line as used in the beach abort test to insure that the capsule would get away from the booster in an emergency. The escape system weighed 1,015 pounds, including 236 pounds of ballast for stability. The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Testing of the Little Joe booster on its launcher. The launcher is positioned at its normal launch angle of 80 degrees. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 33): The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Publicity photograph of a technician measuring a wind tunnel model of the Little Joe test vehicle. Joseph Shortal noted that (vol. 3, p. 29): The largest project at Wallops in support of Mercury was the Little Joe project, designed to qualify the abort-escape system under flight conditions. James Hansen (p. 47) writes: STG engineers Max Faget and Paul Purser, then of Langley's PARD, had conceived Little Joe as a space capsule test vehicle even before the establishment of NASA and the formation of the STG. Girlruth understood the importance of the Little Joe tests: We had to be sure there were no serious performance and operational problems that we had simply not thought of in such a new and radical type of flight vehicle. -- Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 47 Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

The Little Joe launch vehicle being readied for a test launch from Wallops in January 1960... Page 77. Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication, by James Schultz. **note - see L59-5137 page 77 also. Photograph published in Engineer in Charge: A History of the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, 1917-1958 by James R. Hansen. Page 389. ...was conceived by Langley engineers Max Faget and Paul Purser even before STG (Space Task Group) was organized.

Technicians attach the escape tower to the Mercury capsule prior to assembly with Little Joe launcher, August 20, 1959. Joseph Shortal describe this as follows (vol. 3., p. 33): The escape tower and rocket motors were taken from the Mercury capsule production. The tower is shown being attached to the capsule.... The escape rocket was a Grand Central 1-KS-52000 motor with three canted nozzles. The tower-jettison motor was an Atlantic Research Corp. 1.4-KS-785 motor. This was the same design tested in a beach abort test...and had the offset thrust line as used in the beach abort test to insure that the capsule would get away from the booster in an emergency. The escape system weighed 1,015 pounds, including 236 pounds of ballast for stability. The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Technicians attach the escape tower to the Mercury capsule prior to assembly with Little Joe launcher, August 20, 1959. Joseph Shortal describe this as follows (vol. 3., p. 33): The escape tower and rocket motors were taken from the Mercury capsule production. The tower is shown being attached to the capsule.... The escape rocket was a Grand Central 1-KS-52000 motor with three canted nozzles. The tower-jettison motor was an Atlantic Research Corp. 1.4-KS-785 motor. This was the same design tested in a beach abort test...and had the offset thrust line as used in the beach abort test to insure that the capsule would get away from the booster in an emergency. The escape system weighed 1,015 pounds, including 236 pounds of ballast for stability. The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Technicians attach the escape tower to the Mercury capsule prior to assembly with Little Joe launcher, August 20, 1959. Joseph Shortal describe this as follows (vol. 3., p. 33): The escape tower and rocket motors were taken from the Mercury capsule production. The tower is shown being attached to the capsule.... The escape rocket was a Grand Central 1-KS-52000 motor with three canted nozzles. The tower-jettison motor was an Atlantic Research Corp. 1.4-KS-785 motor. This was the same design tested in a beach abort test...and had the offset thrust line as used in the beach abort test to insure that the capsule would get away from the booster in an emergency. The escape system weighed 1,015 pounds, including 236 pounds of ballast for stability. The Little Joe booster was assembled at Wallops on its special launcher in a vertical attitude. It is shown in the on the left with the work platform in place. The launcher was located on a special concrete slab in Launching Area 1. The capsule was lowered onto the booster by crane.... After the assembly was completed, the scaffolding was disassembled and the launcher pitched over to its normal launch angle of 80 degrees.... Little Joe had a diameter of 80 inches and an overall length, including the capsule and escape tower of 48 feet. The total weight at launch was about 43,000 pounds. The overall span of the stabilizing fins was 21.3 feet. Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

S61-01600 (11 March 1961) --- This is the G2498 Little Joe 5A mission preparedness chart. Photo credit: NASA

The Little Joe launch vehicle for the LJ1 mission on the launch pad at the wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, on January 21, 1960. This mission achieved the suborbital Mercury cupsule test, testing of the escape system, and biomedical tests by using a monkey, named Miss Sam.

The launch of the Little Joe booster for the LJ1B mission on the launch pad from the wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, on January 21, 1960. This mission achieved the suborbital Mercury capsule test, testing of the escape system, and biomedical tests by using a monkey, named Miss Sam.

S61-01398 (18 March 1961) --- View of the recovery of the Little Joe-5A spacecraft which lifted off on March 18, 1961 from Wallops Island. The photo was taken from the recovery helicopter and shows the craft's parachute still attached and floating in the water next to the capsule. Little Joe-5A was a suborbital flight to test the Mercury capsule. The escape rocket motor fired prematurely and prior to capsule release. Photo credit: NASA

Little Joe II liftoff from the Apollo Little Joe II launch area #3 at White Sands Missile Range, White Sands, New Mexico.

S61-01663 (23 April 1961) --- View of the mating of Little Joe-5B launch vehicle with Mercury capsule #14. Photo credit: NASA

S61-01690 (28 April 1961) --- View of the launch of the Little Joe-5B spacecraft from Wallops Island on April 28, 1961. Photo credit: NASA

S63-15701 (28 August 1963) --- All seven motors of Little Joe II, ignited simultaneously at launch, with a total thrust of about 310,000 pounds. A maximum height of 24,000 feet was attained as Little Joe II traveled 47,000 feet north on the White Sands Test Range.

G61-00030 (4 Nov. 1959) --- Launch of Little Joe-2 from Wallops Island carrying Mercury spacecraft test article. The suborbital test flight of the Mercury capsule was to test the escape system. Vehicle functioned perfectly, but escape rocket ignited several seconds too late. Photo credit: NASA

S63-19319 (October 1963) --- Pen and ink drawing of a proposed arrangement for a Pig Capsule in Little Joe capsule first shot. Photo credit: NASA

S61-01673 (23 April 1961) --- View of the mating of Little Joe-5B launch vehicle with Mercury capsule #14. Photo credit: NASA

Water drop and recovery from shore-based crane at Langley's back river.

Water drop and recovery from shore-based crane at Langley's back river.

Water drop and recovery from shore-based crane at Langley's back river.

B60-00364 (4 Nov. 1959) --- Launch of Little Joe-2 from Wallops Island carrying Mercury spacecraft test article. The suborbital test flight of the Mercury capsule was to test the escape system. Vehicle functioned perfectly, but escape rocket ignited several seconds too late. Photo credit: NASA

S63-19199 (4 Dec. 1959) --- Sam, the Rhesus monkey, and his handler after his ride in the Little Joe 2 (LJ-2) spacecraft. He is still encased in his contour couch. A U.S. Navy destroyer safely recovered Sam after he experienced three minutes of weightlessness during the flight. Photo credit: NASA

B59-00828 (21 Jan. 1959) --- The test subject, a rhesus monkey named Miss Sam, is seen encased in a model of the Mercury fiberglass contour couch. She is being placed in a container for the Little Joe 1B suborbital test flight of the Mercury Capsule. Photo credit: NASA

View of the liftoff of Little Joe II launch vehicle at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

S63-19317 (October 1963) --- Pen and ink views of comparative arrangements of several capsules including the existing "Big Joe" design, the compromise "Big Joe" design, and the "Little Joe". All capsule designs are labeled and include dimensions. Photo credit: NASA

Joe Walker in a pressure suit beside the X-1E at the NASA High-Speed Flight Station, Edwards,California. The dice and "Little Joe" are prominently displayed under the cockpit area. (Little Joe is a dice players slang term for two deuces.) Walker is shown in the photo wearing an early Air Force partial pressure suit. This protected the pilot if cockpit pressure was lost above 50,000 feet. Similar suits were used in such aircraft as B-47s, B-52s, F-104s, U-2s, and the X-2 and D-558-II research aircraft. Five years later, Walker reached 354,200 feet in the X-15. Similar artwork - reading "Little Joe the II" - was applied for the record flight. These cases are two of the few times that research aircraft carried such nose art.

S61-01372 (21 Feb. 1961) --- Launch of the unmanned Mercury-Atlas 2 (MA-2) vehicle for a suborbital test flight of the Mercury capsule. The upper part of Atlas is stengthened by an eight-inch wide stainless steel band. The capsule was recovered less than one hour after launch. The altitude was 108 miles. Speed was 13,000 mph. Recovered 1,425 miles downrange. Photo credit: NASA

Comet NEOWISE passing over the Little Joe II rocket at NASA Johnson Space Center’s Rocket Park on July 22nd, 2020.

Overall view at JSC lookin west from atop of Bldg. 1 showing rockets, parking lot and all threee stages of Saturn V. first stage of Saturn V exhibit in "Rocket Park" on west side of center little joe and mercury models are seen 1. JSC- Aerials

G60-02552 (8 Nov. 1960) --- Little Joe-5 prelaunch fittings shot before flight from Wallops Island. The suborbital test flight was to qualify the capsule system. The capsule did not separate from the booster. Photo credit: NASA

View from the balcony of the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, Russia a little more than an hour before the planned docking of the Soyuz TMA-04M to the International Space Station on Thursday, May 17, 2012. Onboard the soyuz spacecraft are Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, and NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba. The crew of three launched at 9:01 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Tuesday, May 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

View from the balcony of the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, Russia a little more than an hour before the planned docking of the Soyuz TMA-04M to the International Space Station on Thursday, May 17, 2012. Onboard the soyuz spacecraft are Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, and NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba. The crew of three launched at 9:01 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Tuesday, May 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The sun rises a little more than two and half hours before the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, and NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba aboard launched to the International Space station on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A Mercury capsule is mounted inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel for a test of its escape tower rockets at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. In October 1959 NASA’s Space Task Group allocated several Project Mercury assignments to Lewis. The Altitude Wind Tunnel was quickly modified so that its 51-foot diameter western leg could be used as a test chamber. The final round of tests in the Altitude Wind Tunnel sought to determine if the smoke plume from the capsule’s escape tower rockets would shroud or compromise the spacecraft. The escape tower, a 10-foot steel rig with three small rockets, was attached to the nose of the Mercury capsule. It could be used to jettison the astronaut and capsule to safety in the event of a launch vehicle malfunction on the pad or at any point prior to separation from the booster. Once actuated, the escape rockets would fire, and the capsule would be ejected away from the booster. After the capsule reached its apex of about 2,500 feet, the tower, heatshield, retropackage, and antenna would be ejected and a drogue parachute would be released. Flight tests of the escape system were performed at Wallops Island as part of the series of Little Joe launches. Although the escape rockets fired prematurely on Little Joe’s first attempt in August 1959, the January 1960 follow-up was successful.

A NASA mechanic secures the afterbody to a Mercury capsule in the hangar at the Lewis Research Center. The capsule was one of two built at Lewis for the “Big Joe” launches scheduled for September 1959. The initial phase of Project Mercury consisted of a series of unmanned launches using the Air Force’s Redstone and Atlas boosters and the Langley-designed Little Joe boosters. The first Atlas launch, referred to as “Big Joe”, was a single attempt early in Project Mercury to use a full-scale Atlas booster to simulate the reentry of a mock-up Mercury capsule without actually placing it in orbit. The overall design of Big Joe had been completed by December 1958, and soon thereafter project manager Aleck Bond assigned NASA Lewis the task of designing the electronic instrumentation and automatic stabilization system. Lewis also constructed the capsule’s lower section, which contained a pressurized area with the electronics and two nitrogen tanks for the retrorockets. Lewis technicians were responsible for assembling the entire capsule: the General Electric heatshield, NASA Langley afterbody and recovery canister, and Lewis electronics and control systems. On June 9, 1959, the capsule was loaded on an air force transport aircraft and flown to Cape Canaveral. A team of 45 test operations personnel from Lewis followed the capsule to Florida and spent the ensuing months preparing it for launch. The launch took place in the early morning hours of September 9, 1959.

Photographed on: 08 05 1958. -- Impact test conducted by Langley's Hydrodynamics Division. The Division conducted a series of impact studies with full scale and model capsules of the original capsule shape A. Joseph Shortal wrote (Vol. 3, p. 16): The basic design of the capsule was made by M.A. Faget and his coworkers at PARD during the winter of 1957-1958. It was natural, then, that extensive use was made of the facilities at Wallops during the development of the spacecraft. The tests at Wallops consisted of 26 full-size capsules, either launched from the ground by rocket power or dropped from airplanes at high altitude and 28 scaled models, either rocket boosted or released from balloons. Emphasis in the Wallops program was on dynamic stability and aerodynamic heating of the capsule, and effectiveness of the pilot-escape and parachute-recovery systems. The biggest part of the Wallops program was the series of full-size capsules, rocket launched with the Little Joe booster, developed especially for Mercury. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Photographed on: 08 05 1958. -- Impact test conducted by Langley's Hydrodynamics Division. The Division conducted a series of impact studies with full scale and model capsules of the original capsule shape A. Joseph Shortal wrote (Vol. 3, p. 16): The basic design of the capsule was made by M.A. Faget and his coworkers at PARD during the winter of 1957-1958. It was natural, then, that extensive use was made of the facilities at Wallops during the development of the spacecraft. The tests at Wallops consisted of 26 full-size capsules, either launched from the ground by rocket power or dropped from airplanes at high altitude and 28 scaled models, either rocket boosted or released from balloons. Emphasis in the Wallops program was on dynamic stability and aerodynamic heating of the capsule, and effectiveness of the pilot-escape and parachute-recovery systems. The biggest part of the Wallops program was the series of full-size capsules, rocket launched with the Little Joe booster, developed especially for Mercury. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.

Testing of Mercury Capsule Shape A by the Hydrodynamics Division of Langley. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 19): The Hydrodynamics Division provided assistance in determining landing loads. In this connection, after PARD engineers had unofficially approached that division to make some water impact tests with the boilerplate capsule, J.B. Parkinson, Hydrodynamics Chief visited Shortal to find out if the request had his support. Finding out that it did, Parkinson said, Its your capsule. If you want us to drop it in the water, we will do it. From Shortal (Vol. 3, p. 16): The basic design of the capsule was made by M.A. Faget and his coworkers at PARD during the winter of 1957-1958. It was natural, then, that extensive use was made of the facilities at Wallops during the development of the spacecraft. The tests at Wallops consisted of 26 full-size capsules, either launched from the ground by rocket power or dropped from airplanes at high altitude and 28 scaled models, either rocket boosted or released from balloons. Emphasis in the Wallops program was on dynamic stability and aerodynamic heating of the capsule, and effectiveness of the pilot-escape and parachute-recovery systems. The biggest part of the Wallops program was the series of full-size capsules, rocket launched with the Little Joe booster, developed especially for Mercury. -- Published in Joseph A. Shortal, History of Wallops Station: Origins and Activities Through 1949, (Wallops Island, VA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Wallops Station, nd), Comment Edition.