Engine ignition of Mariner 2 Atlas Agena B at LC-12, Cape Canaveral AFS, 2:53 a.m., EST, 27 August 1962. (NASA)
27 August 1962: At 06:53:14 UTC (2:53 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time), Mariner 2 lifted off from Launch Complex 12 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, aboard an Atlas-Agena B launch vehicle. This was the second space probe to be sent to Venus.
Mariner 1 and 2 were identical space probes built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, California. The spacecraft were designed to obtain radiometric temperatures of Venus, and to measure the Interplanetary Magnetic Field.
The Mariner 1 mission failed when the launch vehicle veered off course and was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer, 4 minutes, 53 seconds into its flight, 22 July 1962.
Mariner 2 under final inspection. (NASA)
The Atlas Agena B combined an Atlas LV-3A rocket with an Agena B upper stage. The Atlas was derived from the U.S. Air Force SM-65 Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and was built by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at San Diego, California.
The height of the total vehicle, including the protective shroud encasing Mariner, 103 feet, 5 inches (31.70 meters). The Atlas Agena B first stage was 20.70 meters (67 feet, 11 inches) long, with a maximum diameter of 3.05 meters (10 feet). The maximum width across the booster section was 4.88 meters (16 feet).
The LV-3A is a “1-½ stage” liquid-fueled rocket with three engines. The “half-stage,” was a booster section consisting of two LR89-NA-5 rocket engines. This stage produced approximately 369,800 pounds of thrust (1,645 kilonewtons). The center, or “sustainer,” engine is a LR105-NA-5, rated at 86,800 pounds of thrust (386 kilonewtons). Both engines were built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, Inc., at Canoga Park, California. The Atlas rocket used liquid oxygen and RP-1 (a highly-refined kerosene) propellant. The LV-3A had a total thrust of 456,587 pounds (2,031 kilonewtons).
The second stage was an Agena B, built by Lockheed Missiles and Space Systems, Sunnyvale, California. This engine was capable of being restarted in orbit. The Agena B was 7.20 meters (23 feet, 7 inches) long and had a maximum diameter of 1.50 meters (4 feet, 11 inches). It was also liquid fueled, but used a hypergolic mixture of nitric acid and UDMH. The single engine was a Bell Aerosystems Company LR81-BA-7, with 16,000 pounds of thrust (71.1 kilonewtons).
The Mariner probe was mounted atop the Agena second stage, enclosed in a protective shroud. Mariner had a gross weight of 447 pounds (202.8 kilograms). The probe was 9 feet, 11 inches long (3.02 meters) long, folded for launch, and 5 feet (1.52 meters) wide. When antennas and the solar panels were fully expanded, the spacecraft was 11 feet, 11 inches (3.63 meters) long and had a span of 16 feet, 6 inches (5.03 meters).
Artist’s conception of Mariner 2 in interplanetary space. (NASA)
At liftoff, all three main engines were burning. After 2minutes, the two-engine booster assembly was jettisoned and the vehicle continued with the center LR105 sustainer. After 4 minutes, 25 seconds, this engine shut down and the Agena second stage separated. At this point, guidance was lost and the vehicle began to roll, but did not deviate significantly from the planned trajectory. About a minute later, guidance was restored and the mission continued.
The Agena B second stage placed the Mariner in a parking orbit at about 118 kilometers (73.3 miles) altitude. 16 minutes, 20 seconds later, the Agena engine was reignited and Mariner 2 was then placed on a trajectory planned to take it to Venus.
After 3 months, 17 days, at 19:59:28 UTC, 14 December 1962, the probe passed within 34,773 kilometers (21,607 miles) of Venus and measured the planet’s surface and cloud temperatures. It continued inward across the solar system and came within 105,464,560 kilometers (65,432,640 miles) of the sun.
The last transmission was received at 07:00 UTC, 3 January 1963, 129 days into the mission. Mariner 2 remains in orbit around the sun, circling every 292 days.
The Atlas Agena B, carrying Mariner 2, accelerates toward orbit, 06:53 UTC, 27 August 1962 (NASA)
The Thor Delta launch vehicle at Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spherical capsule containing the Echo 1A is visible at the top of the Altair solid fuel third stage. (NASA)
12 August 1960: At 5:39:43 a.m., Eastern Daylight Savings Time, the Echo 1A experimental passive communications satellite was launched from LC-17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch vehicle was a Thor-Delta three stage rocket. It entered a nearly circular 944 mile × 1,048 mile orbit (1,519 × 1,687 kilometers). The orbital period was 118.3 minutes.
The satellite was a 100 foot diameter (30.48 meter) Mylar polyester balloon with a reflective surface. The material was just 0.0127 millimeters thick. The mass of the satellite was 66 kilograms (145.5 pounds). In orbit, the balloon envelope was kept inflated by gas from evaporating liquid. It had been constructed by the G.T. Schjeldahl Company, Northfield, Minnesota. This was the second Echo satellite. The first had failed to reach orbit when launched 13 March 1960.
Later the same day, a microwave transmission from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, was reflected off the Echo 1A satellite and received at the Bell Laboratories, Homdel, New York.
According to NASA, “The success of Echo 1A proved that microwave transmission to and from satellites in space was understood and demonstrated the promise of communications satellites. The vehicle also provided data for the calculation of atmospheric density and solar pressure due to its large area-to-mass ratio. Echo 1A was visible to the unaided eye over most of the Earth (brighter than most stars) and was probably seen by more people than any other man-made object in space.”
Echo 1A remained in Earth orbit until 24 May 1968.
An Echo satellite undergoing static inflation tests inside a blimp hangar at Weeksville NAS, North Carolina. The vehicle, which shows scale, is a 1959 Plymouth Suburban 4-door station wagon. (NASA)
The Delta was a three-stage expendable launch vehicle which was developed from the Douglas Aircraft Company’s SM-75 Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile.
Designated Thor DM-19, the first stage was 60.43 feet (18.42 meters) long and 8 feet (2.44 meters) in diameter. Fully fueled, the first stage had a gross weight of 108,770 pounds (49,337 kilograms). It was powered by a Rocketdyne LR-79-7 engine which burned liquid oxygen and RP-1 (a highly-refined kerosene rocket fuel) and produced 170,565 pounds of thrust (758.711 kilonewtons). This stage had a burn time of 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
The second stage was an Aerojet General Corporation-built Delta 104. It was 19 feet, 3 inches (5.88 meters) long with a maximum diameter of 4 feet, 6 inches (1.40 meters). The second stage had a gross weight of 9,859 pounds (4,472 kilograms). It used an Aerojet AJ10-104 rocket engine which burned a hypergolic mixture of nitric acid and UDMH. The second stage produced 7,890 pounds of thrust (35.096 kilonewtons) and burned for 4 minutes, 38 seconds.
The third stage was an Alleghany Ballistics Laboratory Altair 1. It was 6 feet long, 1 foot, 6 inches in diameter and had a gross weight of 524 pounds (238 kilograms). This stage used a solid-fuel Thiokol X-248 rocket engine, producing 2,799 pounds of thrust (12.451 kilonewtons). Its burn time was 4 minutes, 16 seconds.
Convair XSM-65A Atlas 4A launch, 11 June 1957. (U.S. Air Force)
11 June 1957, 4:37 p.m., EST, (20:47 UTC): The Convair XSM-65A Atlas, number 4A, lifted off from Launch Complex 14 at the Cape Canaveral Auxiliary Air Force Station in Florida. This was the first launch of a prototype Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile.
At T+26 seconds, the number two engine lost thrust. The rocket began to tumble and at T+50 seconds, the destruct signal was sent by the range safety officer. The Atlas had reached a peak altitude of approximately 9,800 feet (2,987 meters).
Convair Atlas 4A is launched from the Cape Canaveral Auxiliary Air Force Station 11 June 1957. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, Catalog #:14_015602)
Despite the missile’s destruction, the first flight test of the XSM-65A (also known as Atlas A) was actually considered to be a success. The engines had started normally, the launch pad release mechanism functioned as intended, and perhaps most importantly, the lightweight structure of the missile body withstood the forces experienced during the launch.
Following data analysis of the short flight, engineers determined that engine exhaust had circulated back into the engine’s thrust section, causing it to overheat. The propellant ducts were not sufficiently shielded from the heat and began to collapse. This reduced the flow of the liquid oxygen to the engine, effectively throttling it back.
Atlas 4A had been previously tested at Convair’s static test facility in Sycamore Canyon, east of MCAS Miramar, in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego, California. It is possible that Atlas 4A had suffered internal damage during test firing.
Static test stands for Atlas rockets at Convair’s Sycamore Canyon Test Facility, near San Diego, California. (siloworld.net)
The Atlas A was a prototype for an intercontinental ballistic missile, designed to test the structure, engines and launch system. Unlike the production Atlas, Atlas A used only two engines. The missile was designed an built by the Convair Astronautics Division of General Dynamics at San Diego, California.
Atlas A 4A
Atlas A was 76 feet, 11 inches (23.444 meters) long and 11 feet (3.353 meters) in diameter. At liftoff the missile weighed 180,666 pounds (81,949 kilograms), and at burnout 17,721 pounds (kilograms).
The Atlas is primarily constructed of very thin stainless steel sheet. Rather than using a supporting internal structure, the rocket used “balloon tanks” so that it could be built with minimal weight. The fuel and oxidizer tanks supported the outer skin, but could only do so when pressurized. When the rocket was not fueled, these tanks were pressurized with nitrogen at 5 pounds per square inch (34 kilopascals). If left unpressurized, the rocket would collapse under its own weight.
Atlas A 4A before erection at Launch Complex 14 (Drew Ex Machina)
Atlas 4A was powered by two Rocketdyne XLR-89-1 engines, which produced 271,432 pounds of thrust (1,207 kilonewtons) at takeoff, burning RP-1, a highly refined kerosene, with liquid oxygen. The two engines shared a single turbopump to provide the fuel. Early versions of this engine had a conical exhaust nozzle, while improved models used a bell-shaped nozzle. Production Atlas missiles added a Rocketdyne LR105-NA sustainer engine which continued to accelerate the missile after the LR-89 booster engines were jettisoned. Because of this configuration, the Atlas was known as a “1½-stage rocket.” The LR105 produced 60,473 pounds of thrust (269 kilonewtons) at Sea Level.
Yaw, pitch and roll control of the Atlas after the booster section was jettisoned was provided by two smaller Rocketdyne LR101 vernier thrusters, producing 1,060 pounds of thrust (4.7 kilonewtons) at Sea Level.
Convair XSM-65A Atlas 4A at Launch Complex 14, 11 June 1957. (NASA 19570611-004A-0408)Atlas A 4A, Launch Complex 14, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. (U.S. Air Force)Three-view diagram of Convair Atlas A. (Drew Ex Machina)Atlas A MA-1 with two Rocketdyne LR-89-1 engines. (Rocketdyne)
The SM-65A Atlas ICBM became operational 31 October 1959. The rockets were housed in underground “silos,” or hardened above ground shelters located throughout the continental United States. These missiles carried a single W-49 thermonuclear warhead with a yield of 1.44 megatons. The W-49 was designed by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) and is believed to be a development of the earlier B-28 two-stage radiation-implosion bomb. It incorporated a 10-kiloton W-34 warhead as a gas-boosted fission primary, and had a one-point-safe safety system. The warhead had a diameter of 1 foot, 8 inches (0.508 meters) and length of 4 feet, 6.3 inches (1.379 meters). It weighed 1,665 pounds (755 kilograms).
An unexpected side effect of the Atlas missile programs was the development by the Rocket Chemical Company of its Water-Displacing Formula 40, popularly known by its trade name of WD-40. This universal lubricant was used on the stainless steel surfaces of the Atlas to prevent rust and corrosion.
Mercury Atlas 9 (MA-9), consisting of Faith 7 and Atlas 130-D, lifts off from Launch Complex 14 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, at 13:04:13 UTC, 15 May 1963. (NASA)
15 May 1963: At 8:04:13.106 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, Mercury-Atlas 9, carrying NASA astronaut, L. Gordon Cooper aboard Faith 7, lifted off from Launch Complex 14, Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida. Cooper reported, “The liftoff was smooth, but very definite, the acceleration was very pleasant. The booster had a very good feel to it and it felt like we were real on the go, there.” The maximum acceleration experienced during launch was 7.6 gs.
Faith 7 separated from the Atlas booster at T+00:05:05.5.3 and entered low Earth orbit with an apogee of 165.9 statute miles (267.0 kilometers) and perigee of 100.3 statute miles (161.4 kilometers). The orbital period was 88 minutes, 45 seconds. The spacecraft’s velocity was 25,714.0 feet per second (7,837.6 meters per second), or 17,532.3 miles per hour (28,215.5 kilometers per hour).
Major L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., United States Air Force. NASA Astronaut. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004). Major Cooper is wearing a modified U.S. Navy Mark IV full-pressure suit produced by B.F. Goodrich. (NASA)
MA-9 was the final flight of Project Mercury. Gordon Cooper flew 22.5 orbits. Due to electrical system problems that began on the 21st orbit, he had to fly a manual reentry which resulted in the most accurate landing of the Mercury program.
The spacecraft’s three retrorockets fired 5 second intervals beginning at T+33:59:30. 34 hours, 19 minutes, 49 seconds after lift off, Faith 7 “splashed down” approximately 70 miles (112.7 kilometers) southeast of Midway Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, just 4.4 miles (7.1 kilometers) from the primary recovery ship, the United States Navy Ticonderoga-class aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CV-33).
Mercury spacecraft profile with dimensions. (NASA)
The Mercury spacecraft, which Cooper named Faith 7, was built by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri, which would also build the follow-on, two-place Gemini spacecraft. It was the 20th and final Mercury capsule to be built, and was one of four which were modified to support a day-long mission. Some items considered unnecessary were deleted and extra oxygen and battery capacity was added.
Designed to carry one pilot, the Mercury space craft could be controlled in pitch, roll and yaw by thrusters. The space capsule was truncated cone with sides angled 20° from the longitudinal axis. It was 6 feet, 10 inches (2.083 meters) long and had a maximum diameter of 6 feet, 2.50 inches (1.892 meters). The total height of the spacecraft, from the tip of the aero spike to the booster adapter, was 26 feet, 1.26 inches (7.957 meters). Faith 7 weighed 4,330.82 pounds (1,964.43 kilograms) at liftoff.
During flight outside the atmosphere, the Mercury spacecraft could be controlled in its pitch, roll and yaw axes by hydrogen peroxide-fueled reaction control thrusters. Both manual and automatic attitude control were available. It could not accelerate or decelerate (except for reentry) so it could not change its orbit.
The spacecraft cabin was pressurized to 5.5 psi with 100% oxygen. Gordon Cooper wore a modified B.F. Goodrich Mark IV full-pressure suit and flight helmet for protection in the event that cabin pressure was lost. Cooper’s suit varied considerably from those worn by previous Mercury astronauts.
Mercury-Atlas 9 at Launch Complex 14. The gantry has been pulled back, but the rocket has not been filled with propellants. Two men at the lower right of the image provide scale.(NASA)
The rocket, a “1-½ stage” liquid-fueled Atlas LV-3B, number 130-D, was built by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at San Diego, California. It was developed from a U.S. Air Force SM-65 Atlas D intercontinental ballistic missile, modified for use as a “man-rated” orbital launch vehicle.
The LV-3B was 65 feet (19.812 meters) long from the base to the Mercury adapter section, and the tank section is 10 feet (3.038 meters) in diameter. The complete Mercury-Atlas orbital launch vehicle is 93 feet (28.436 meters) tall, including the escape tower. When ready for launch it weighed approximately 260,000 pounds (117,934 kilograms).
Diagram of Atlas LV-3B with Metric dimensions. (Space Launch Report)
The Atlas’ three engines were built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, Inc., at Canoga Park, California. Two Rocketdyne LR89-NA-5 engines and one LR105-NA-5 produced 341,140 pounds (1,517.466 kilonewtons) of thrust. The rocket was fueled by a highly-refined kerosene, RP-1, with liquid oxygen as the oxidizer.
Faith 7 is displayed at the Space Center Houston, the visitor center for the Johnson Space Flight Center, Houston, Texas.
Mercury-Atlas 9 at Launch Complex 14. (NASA GPN-2000-000609)
Mercury-Redstone 3 lifts off from LC-5, 10:34:13 EDT, 5 May 1961. (NASA)Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr., Astronaut. (NASA)
At 10:34:13.48 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time ¹ (13:34:13.48 UTC), 5 May 1961, Mercury-Redstone 3 lifted off from Launch Complex 5 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida. On board was a NASA Astronaut, Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., United States Navy. Shepard had named his spacecraft Freedom 7.
This was the very first time that an American astronaut had been carried into space aboard a rocket and came 23 days after Soviet Union Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin had completed one orbit of the Earth.
During the launch, acceleration reached 6.3 gs. The Redstone’s engine shut down at T+02:21.3, with the rocket having reached a velocity of 7,388 feet per second (2,251.9 meters per second). 10 seconds later, the Mercury spacecraft separated from the Redstone booster. The spacecraft’s maximum speed was 5,134 miles per hour (8,262.4 kilometers per hour). For the next 5 minutes, 4 seconds, Alan Shepard was “weightless.” Freedom 7 reached a peak altitude of 101.2 nautical miles (116.46 statute miles/187.42 kilometers), 0.9 nautical miles (1.7 kilometers) higher than planned.
Alan B. Shepard, Jr., seated in the cockpit of Freedom 7 before launch, 5 May 1961. (NASA)
Alan Shepard’s flight was suborbital. The rocket launched the capsule on a ballistic trajectory. During the flight, Shepard demonstrated the use of manually controlled thrusters to orient the Mercury capsule in three axes.
Freedom 7 began reentry to the atmosphere at T+07:38. Deceleration forces reached 11.0 gs. Shepard manually controlled the vehicle’s attitude, and once correctly oriented for reentry, reverted to automatic control. With the blunt (bottom) end of the spacecraft forward, aerodynamic drag slowed the capsule. A spherical-segment ablative Beryllium heat shield protected the space ship and its passenger.
On reaching the lower atmosphere, the capsule’s speed was reduced by a 63-foot (19.2 meter) diameter ring-sail parachute, and a “landing bag” deployed from the base of the spacecraft to provide an impact cushion. The landing, or “splash down,” took place in the Atlantic Ocean, 263.1 nautical miles (302.8 statute miles/487.3 kilometers) down range, 6.8 nautical miles (7.8 miles/12.6 kilometers) farther than planned. (N. 75° 53′, W. 27° 13.7′)
The total duration of Alan Shepard’s flight was 15 minutes, 28 seconds. All mission objectives were accomplished and no malfunctions occurred.
Alan B. Shepard, Jr., being hoisted aboard the Sikorsky HUS-1 Seahorse helicopter, N. 75° 53′, W. 27° 13.7′, in the Atlantic Ocean, 5 May 1961. (NASA)
Eleven minutes after splash down, Commander Shepard was hoisted from the capsule to a hovering U.S. Marine Corps HUS-1 Sea Horse (Sikorsky S-58) helicopter of Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron (Light) 262 (HMR(L)-262).² The helicopter then lifted the Mercury capsule and flew to the nearby U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class anti-submarine aircraft carrier, USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39). The Mercury capsule was returned to Cape Canaveral for inspection and found to be in excellent condition.
U.S. Marine Corps HUS-1 Seahorse (Sikorsky S-58) Bu. No. 148767 of HMR(L)-262 hovers while hoisting Alan Shepard from Freedom 7 after his sub-orbital flight, 5 May 1961. The Mercury capsule will also be lifted from the ocean by the helicopter and carried to USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39). (NASA)USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39), 1 July 1960. (U.S. Navy)
Freedom 7 was the seventh of twenty Mercury capsules built by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation at St. Louis, Missouri, which would also build the follow-on, two-place Gemini spacecraft. It was delivered to Cape Canaveral 9 December 1960.
The space capsule was truncated cone with sides angled 20° from the longitudinal axis. It was 6 feet, 10 inches (2.083 meters) long and had a maximum diameter of 6 feet, 2.50 inches (1.892 meters). The total height of the spacecraft, from the tip of the aero spike to the booster adapter, was 26 feet, 1.26 inches (7.957 meters). At launch, Freedom 7 weighed 4,040.28 pounds (1,832.64 kilograms).
Project Mercury spacecraft under construction at McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri. (NASA)
During flight outside the atmosphere, the Mercury spacecraft could be controlled in its pitch, roll and yaw axes by hydrogen peroxide-fueled reaction control thrusters. Both manual and automatic attitude control were available. It could not accelerate or decelerate (except for reentry), so it could not change its orbit.
The spacecraft cabin was pressurized to 5.5 psi (0.38 Bar) with 100% oxygen. The astronaut wore a B.F. Goodrich Mark IV Model 3 Type I full-pressure suit and flight helmet for protection in the event that cabin pressure was lost.
Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle with dimensions. (NASA)
The Redstone MRLV rocket was a redesigned, “man rated” version of the Chrysler Corporation Missile Division-built United States Army M8 Redstone nuclear-armed medium range ballistic missile (MRBM). It was lengthened to provide greater fuel capacity, a pressurized instrumentation section was added, the control systems were simplified for greater reliability, and an inflight abort sensing system was installed. The rocket fuel was changed from hydrazine to ethyl alcohol.
The cylindrical booster was 59.00 feet (17.983 meters) long and 5 feet, 10 inches (1.778 meters) in diameter. The rocket had four guidance fins with rudders mounted at the tail section. (Interestingly, the Redstone stood freely on the launch pad. No hold-downs were used. The guidance fins supported the entire weight of the vehicle.)
Compare the U.S. Army M8 Redstone medium-range ballistic missile in this photograph to the Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle in the photograph above. This rocket, CC-1002, was the first Block 1 tactical rocket, photographed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, 16 May 1958. (NASA)
The Redstone MRLV was powered by a single liquid-fueled NAA 75-110-A7 rocket engine built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, Inc., at Canoga Park, California. The MR-3 A7 produced 78,860 pounds of thrust (350.79 kilonewtons) at Sea Level, and approximately 89,000 pounds (395.89 kilonewtons) in vacuum, burning ethyl alcohol with liquid oxygen.
The total vehicle height of Mercury-Redstone 3, including the booster, adapter, capsule and escape tower, was 83.38 feet (25.414 meters). The total MR-3 vehicle launch weight was 66,098 pounds (29,982 kilograms).
Alan B. Shepard, Jr. is credited with two Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Records for this flight:
FAI Record File Num #9519 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – current record
Region: World
Class: K (Space records)
Sub-Class: K-1 (Suborbital missions)
Category: Spacecraft with one astronaut
Group: General category
Type of record: Altitude
Performance: 186.307 km
Date: 1961-05-05
Course/Location: Cape Canaveral, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Spacecraft: NASA Mercury Redstone MR-7 / Capsule Mercury Spacecraft n°7
FAI Record File Num #9520 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – current record
Region: World
Class: K (Space records)
Sub-Class: K-1 (Suborbital missions)
Category: Spacecraft with one astronaut
Group: General category
Type of record: Greatest mass lifted to altitude
Performance: 1 832.51 kg
Date: 1961-05-05
Course/Location: Cape Canaveral, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Spacecraft: NASA Mercury Redstone MR-7 / Capsule Mercury Spacecraft n°7
The flight of Freedom 7 was the first manned spaceflight in the 50-year history of the NASA program.³ Alan Shepard would later command Apollo 14, the third successful manned lunar landing mission, in 1971.
Alan Shepard’s Mercury spacecraft, Freedom 7, is on display at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts.
Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 on display at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts.
¹ In 1961, Daylight Saving Time in the United States began on 30 April, just six days before Shepard’s flight. Contemporary newspaper articles about the flight frequently give the time of the launch in both standard time and daylight saving time.
² Sikorsky HUS-1 Sea Horse, Bu. No. 148767, modex ET-44. Sikorsky serial number 581318.
³ From the liftoff of Mercury-Redstone 3 until wheel stop of Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-135), the era of NASA’s Manned Spaceflight Programs lasted 50 years, 2 months, 15 days, 20 hours, 23 minutes, 41 seconds.
27 August 1962: At 06:53:14 UTC (2:53 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time), Mariner 2 lifted off from Launch Complex 12 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, aboard an Atlas-Agena B launch vehicle. This was the second space probe to be sent to Venus.
The Atlas Agena B combined an Atlas LV-3A rocket with an Agena B upper stage. The Atlas was derived from the U.S. Air Force SM-65 Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and was built by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at San Diego, California.
The second stage was an Agena B, built by Lockheed Missiles and Space Systems, Sunnyvale, California. This engine was capable of being restarted in orbit. The Agena B was 7.20 meters (23 feet, 7 inches) long and had a maximum diameter of 1.50 meters (4 feet, 11 inches). It was also liquid fueled, but used a hypergolic mixture of nitric acid and UDMH. The single engine was a Bell Aerosystems Company LR81-BA-7, with 16,000 pounds of thrust (71.1 kilonewtons).
