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Atlas LV-3B | Mercury-Atlas 1

Mercury-Atlas 1

Launch Failure

Launch Details

Date: 29 July 1960, 01:13 pm UTC

Rocket: Atlas LV-3B (Atlas)

Provider: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mission

Type: Test Flight

Orbit: Suborbital

Pad: Space Launch Complex 14, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Mission Description

Mercury-Atlas 1 (MA-1) was the first attempt to launch a Mercury capsule and occurred on July 29, 1960 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft was unmanned and carried no launch escape system. The Atlas rocket suffered a structural failure 58 seconds after launch at an altitude of approximately 30,000 feet (9.1 km) and 11,000 feet (3.4 km) down range.