Little Joe (rocket)

Little Joe
The Little Joe 1 launch vehicle with Mercury capsule, August 1959.
FunctionUncrewed capsule testing
ManufacturerNorth American Aviation
Country of originUnited States
Size
Height17 m (55 ft)
Stages2
Capacity
Payload to suborbital
Mass1,400 kg (3,000 lb)
Launch history
StatusConcluded
Launch sitesWallops Island, Virginia
Total launches8
Success(es)6
Failure(s)2
Boosters
Powered byRecruit rockets
Maximum thrust668 kN (150,000 lbf)
Burn time1.53 s
Propellantsolid
First stage – Sustainer
Powered byCastor
Maximum thrust1,036 kN (233,000 lbf)
Burn time37 s
PropellantSolid

Little Joe was a solid-fueled booster rocket used by NASA for eight launches from 1959 to 1961 from Wallops Island, Virginia to test the launch escape system and heat shield for Project Mercury capsules, as well as the name given to the test program using the booster. The first rocket designed solely for crewed spacecraft qualifications, Little Joe was also one of the pioneer operational launch vehicles using the rocket cluster principle.

The Little Joe name has been attributed to Maxime Faget at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. He based the name on four large fins which reminded him of a slang term for a roll of four in craps.[1]

A successor, Little Joe II, was used for flight testing of the Apollo launch escape system from 1963 to 1966.

  1. ^ Helen T. Wells; Susan H. Whiteley & Carrie E. Karegeannes. Origin of NASA Names. NASA Science and Technical Information Office. p. 10.