Mercury-Atlas 7

Mercury-Atlas 7
Carpenter entering his MA-7 capsule, Aurora 7
Mission typeTest flight
OperatorNASA
Harvard designation1962 Tau 1
COSPAR ID1962-019A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.295
Mission duration4 hours, 56 minutes, 5 seconds
Distance travelled122,344 kilometers (76,021 mi)
Orbits completed3
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftMercury No.18
ManufacturerMcDonnell Aircraft
Launch mass1,350.0 kilograms (2,976.2 lb)
Crew
Crew size1
Members
CallsignAurora 7
Start of mission
Launch dateMay 24, 1962, 12:45:16 (1962-05-24UTC12:45:16Z) UTC
RocketAtlas LV-3B 107-D
Launch siteCape Canaveral LC-14
End of mission
Recovered byUSS Intrepid[1]
Landing dateMay 24, 1962, 17:41:21 (1962-05-24UTC17:41:22Z) UTC
Landing siteNorth-east of Puerto Rico, Caribbean Sea
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude154 kilometers (83 nmi)
Apogee altitude259 kilometers (140 nmi)
Inclination32.5 degrees
Period88.63 minutes
EpochMay 24, 1962[2]

Malcolm Scott Carpenter
Project Mercury
Crewed missions

Mercury-Atlas 7, launched May 24, 1962, was the fourth crewed flight of Project Mercury. The spacecraft, named Aurora 7, was piloted by astronaut Scott Carpenter. He was the sixth human to fly in space. The mission used Mercury spacecraft No. 18 and Atlas launch vehicle No. 107-D.

The flight was for three Earth orbits, essentially a repeat of John Glenn's Mercury-Atlas 6. However, a targeting error during reentry took the spacecraft 250 miles (400 km) off-course, delaying recovery of Carpenter and the spacecraft for an hour. Carpenter was held responsible, at least in part, for the landing error. Carpenter left NASA for the Navy SEALAB program in 1964.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference history139 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "SATCAT". Jonathan's Space Pages. Retrieved March 23, 2014.