Little Joe
Little Joe familyNorth American AviationRetired
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.
Specifications
- Height
- 17 m
- Diameter
- 2.03 m
- Launch mass
- 12.7 t
- Stages
- 1
Specifications from Launch Library. Figures the operator has not published are omitted.
Flight record
8flightswith a definitive outcome
37.5%success rate3 of 8
5failuresincluding partial failures
1success streakcurrent
First flight August 21, 1959 · latest April 28, 1961
Counted from padside's own launch record, the same basis as the stats page.
Flights per year
- Successful
- Failed
Show the numbers for Little Joe flights per year
| Year | Successful | Failed | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 1960 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1961 | 1 | 1 | 2 |