| NASA Center: |
Kennedy Space Center |
|---|
| Image # : |
Mercury-Atlas |
|---|
| Date : |
04/25/1961
|
|---|
|
Title
Mercury-Atlas Test Launch
Full Description
A NASA Project Mercury spacecraft was test launched at 11:15 AM
EST on April 25, 1961 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in a test
designed to qualify the Mercury Spacecraft and all systems,
which must function during orbit and reentry from orbit. The
Mercury-Atlas vehicle was destroyed by Range Safety Officer
about 40 seconds after liftoff. The spacecraft was recovered and
appeared to be in good condition. Atlas was designed to launch
payloads into low Earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or
geosynchronous orbit. NASA first launched Atlas as a space
launch vehicle in 1958. Project SCORE, the first communications
satellite that transmitted President Eisenhower's pre-recorded
Christmas speech around the world, was launched on an Atlas. For
all three robotic lunar exploration programs, Atlas was used.
Atlas/ Centaur vehicles launched both Mariner and Pioneer
planetary probes. The current operational Atlas II family has a
100% mission success rating. For more information about Atlas,
please see Chapter 2 in Roger Launius and Dennis Jenkins' book
To Reach the High Frontier published by The University Press of
Kentucky in 2002.
Keywords
Mercury Atlas launch vehicle, 61-MA3-6
Subject Category
Rocket Launches, Atlas
Reference Numbers
- Center:
KSC
- Center Number:
Mercury-Atlas
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2003-00042
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: NASA
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
JPEG |
72 |
89 |
7 |
Small |
JPEG |
575 |
713 |
239 |
Medium |
JPEG |
1197 |
1485 |
1,136 |
Large |
JPEG |
2395 |
2971 |
7,325 |
Other relevant NASA Web sites:
• NASA Headquarters
• NASA History Office
• NASA Image eXchange (NIX)
• NASA Multimedia Gallery
• NASA Human Spaceflight
Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
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