Back to Launches
Little Joe | LJ-1A

LJ-1A

Launch was a Partial Failure

Launch Details

Date: 4 Nov 1959, 02:30 pm UTC

Rocket: Little Joe (Little Joe)

Provider: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mission

Type: Test Flight

Orbit: Suborbital

Pad: Launch Area 1, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA

Mission Description

Little Joe 1A (LJ-1A) was an unmanned rocket launched as part of NASA's Mercury program on November 4, 1959. This flight, a repeat of the Little Joe 1 (LJ-1) launch, was to test a launch abort under high aerodynamic load conditions. Due to a delayed in the escape motor startup, the abort maneuver was not accomplished at the desired dynamic pressure, requiring a repeat of the test.