Big Joe 1

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = Big Joe 1
spacecraft_name = Boilerplate Mercury Capsule
insignia = Mercury_insignia.jpg
insignia_size = 160px
stats_ref =
sign = Big Joe 1
crew_members = 0
launch_pad = Cape Canaveral
LC-14
launch = September 9, 1959
landing = September 9, 1959
duration = 13 min
lunar_orbits =
time_lunar_orbits =
orbits = suborbital
apogee = 95 mi
153 km
perigee =
apolune =
perilune =
period =
altitude =
inclination =
distance = 1,424 mi
2,292 km
mass = 1,159 kg
previous = Little Joe 1
next = Little Joe 6

Big Joe 1 ( Atlas 10-D) launched an unmanned boilerplate Mercury capsule from Cape Canaveral, FL. on September 9, 1959. The objective of "Big Joe" was to test the Mercury spacecraft ablating heatshield. The flight was both a success and failure - the heatshield survived reentry and was in remarkably good condition when retrieved from the Atlantic. The Atlas-D booster, however, failed to stage and separated too late from the Mercury capsule. Due to the added weight of the unseparated booster engines, the sustainer engine depleted its fuel supply 14 seconds early. The boilerplate capsule was not equipped with a launch escape system.

The boilerplate Mercury capsule flew a 1,424 mile (2,292 km) ballistic flight to the altitude of 90 miles (145 km). The capsule was recovered and studied for the effect of re-entry heat and other flight stresses from its 13 minute flight. Since the data from Big Joe 1 satisfied NASA requirements, a second Mercury launch, Big Joe 2 (Atlas 20D), which had been scheduled for the fall of 1959, was cancelled and the launch vehicle was transferred to another program.

Capsule weight 2,555 lb (1,159 kg). Serial numbers: Atlas 628/10-D, Mercury spacecraft - prototype.

The boilerplate Mercury spacecraft used in the Big Joe mission is currently displayed at the National Air and Space Museum's Garber Facility in Washington D.C. [cite web| url=http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldguide/pages/mercury/bigjoe.html| title=Mercury "Big Joe" spacecraft display page on A Field Guide to American Spacecraft website]

References

* [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/cover.htm This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury - NASA SP-4201]
* [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/sc-query.html NASA NSSDC Master Catalog]
* [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19760067285_1976067285.pdf Project Mercury preliminary flight test results of the Big Joe, Mercury R and D capsule (PDF) October 1959]

ee also

*Splashdown