MISSION NAME
LJ-1B
Status
Success
DATE
21 JAN 1960
LAUNCH PROVIDER
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Launch Pad
Launch Area 1
Description
The Little Joe 1B was a suborbital launch escape system test of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. The mission also carried a female rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) named Miss Sam in the Mercury spacecraft.
Little Joe
Rocket Description
Little Joe was a solid-fueled booster rocket used by NASA for eight launches from 1959-1960 from Wallops Island, Virginia to test the launch escape system and heat shield for Project Mercury capsules.