Big Joe 1

Big Joe 1
Big Joe 1 at LC-14 in September 1959
Mission type Reentry test
Operator NASA
Mission duration 13 min
Distance travelled 2,292 kilometers (1,424 mi)
Apogee 153 kilometers (95 mi)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type Mercury boilerplate
Manufacturer McDonnell Aircraft
Launch mass 1,159 kilograms (2,555 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date September 9, 1959, 08:19 (1959-09-09UTC08:19Z) UTC
Rocket Atlas D
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-14
End of mission
Landing date September 9, 1959, 08:32 (1959-09-09UTC08:33Z) UTC

Project Mercury
Mercury-Atlas series

Big Joe 1 (Atlas 10-D) launched an unmanned boilerplate Mercury capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 9, 1959. The objective of the Big Joe program was to test the Mercury spacecraft ablating heat shield. It was also the first launch of a spacecraft in Project Mercury.

The prelaunch countdown went relatively smoothly, with one delay caused by the Atlas's LOX fill and drain valve failing to close. At 3:19 AM EST on September 9, Big Joe lifted from LC-14 atop Atlas 10D. All went well until the two minute mark when telemetry readouts indicated that the booster section had failed to jettison. The dead weight from the booster engines resulted in below normal velocity, and consequently the guidance system did not generate the planned SECO signal at T+270 seconds because the required altitude and velocity had not been achieved. SECO was instead caused by LOX depletion at T+293 seconds. The Range Safety manual fuel cutoff command was received by the booster, but had no effect because the late SECO had resulted in depletion of helium control gas needed to close the propellant valves. All valves remained open, causing residual engine thrust and bumping of the Mercury capsule following separation. In addition, the guidance system did not generate the separation signal for the capsule due to insufficient altitude and velocity, so ground crews had to repeatedly fire the RCS (Reaction Control System) thrusters to tear the capsule free and in doing so exhausted the propellant supply. Navy recovery crews hurried to locate the capsule following splashdown and after a few hours, did so. The boilerplate Mercury, having landed some 500 miles short of the target point, was found to have survived the mission in good condition and verified the ablative heat shield. Plans for a beryllium heat shield in the event the ablative one did not work were scrapped.

The Mercury capsule flew a 1,424 mile (2,292 km) ballistic flight to the altitude of 90 miles (140 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 launch, Big Joe 2 (Atlas 20D), which had been scheduled for the fall of 1959, was canceled and the launch vehicle was transferred to the Atlas-Able program.

While the Mercury team was satisfied with the flight, Convair engineers were not. The Atlas had failed to stage its booster section and overall vehicle performance was rather marginal. They listed the flight in official records as a failure. The staging problem was traced to a probable failure of the electrical circuit that provided power to the Conax separation valves, so additional instrumentation would be fitted to them on subsequent flights. Convair's morale was soon raised however by the successful launch of Atlas 12D from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the West Coast followed by the vehicle being declared officially "operational".

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

The Mercury spacecraft used in the Big Joe 1 mission is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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