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| "Mr SAM" launch cover with Goldcraft cachet, postmarked Wallops Island, December 4, 1959. |
The Little Joe 2 mission tested the Mercury space capsule by sending a rhesus monkey named Sam (Macaca mulatta) to near-space altitudes. The mission of Little Joe 2 was to evaluate the effectiveness of the escape system and assess the capsule's performance during an abort at a significant altitude, as well as to study the effects of an abort flight on a primate. The flight was launched on December 4, 1959, at 11:15 a.m. ET from Wallops Island, Virginia, USA. Little Joe 2 reached an altitude of 55 miles (88 km) and was successfully recovered in the Atlantic Ocean, with Sam found alive and unharmed aboard the USS Borie.
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| Photo: Monkey SAM |
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| Photo: SAM suited up for the spaceflight. |
