Sources
open directory project
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Big Joe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Big Joe 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
 Big Joe 1 Launch preparations |
Big Joe was a subprogram of Project Mercury. It comprised a single flight using the Atlas launch vehicle, and a boilerplate Mercury capsule. The purpose of the Big Joe Program was to prove the ablative heatshield which would be used for Mercury orbital missions.
The official Mercury mission numbering designation was a two letter designation which corresponded to the launch vehicle type, followed by a dash then a 1 or two character designation of the flight/test number. So the official designation for the only Big Joe flight was BJ-1.
The launch vehicle used for BJ-1 ("628/10-D") has a slightly different numbering scheme than those used for the later Mercury-Atlas flights.