- Little Joe 2
The Little Joe 2 was a test of the Mercury capsule. It was the first American animal flight, 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. His flight was launched
December 4 ,1959 , at 11:15 fromWallops Island ,Virginia ,United States . The Little Joe 2 flew 55 miles (88 km) into space. It was recovered, with the monkey intact, in the Atlantic Ocean by USS "Borie". Sam was one of a series ofMonkeys in space . Sam was from the School of Aviation Medicine in San Antonio, Texas. 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, VA. [cite web| url=http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldguide/pages/mercury/LJ-2.html| title=Mercury "Little Joe 2" spacecraft display page on A Field Guide to American Spacecraft website]
Correction-There was only "one" boilerplatecapsule and called a s such due to it's conical section being made at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was first used on the Beach abort test, and then on round number LJ1A. The Capsules that were used before the production/orbital capsules were "Prototype" capsules and not as the press called them "boilerplates" . In their own right they were as complicated as the Orbital capsules and does the engineers and technicians at Langley a great dis-service. The term Boilerplate for a prototype has worked itself into our language, but for the Little Joe series is mis-leading. Peter.A. Mcquillan
References
ee also
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Little Joe
* Splashdown
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