Little Joe was a solid-fueled booster rocket used by NASA for eight launches from 1959-1960 from Wallops Island, Virginia to test the launch escape system and heat shield for Project Mercury capsules, as well as the name given to the test program using the booster. The first rocket designed solely for crewed spacecraft qualifications, Little Joe was also one of the pioneer operational launch vehicles using the rocket cluster principle. A successor, Little Joe II, was used for flight testing of the Apollo launch escape system from 1963-1966.
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| Little Joe Booster launch cover with Goldcraft cachet, postmarked Wallops Island, January 18, 1960. |
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| Photo: The design of the Goldcraft cachet could be from this mock-up Project Mercury space capsule used to train astronauts in methods of leaving the space capsule. |
The primary purpose of this relatively small and simple booster system was to save money—by allowing numerous test flights to qualify various solutions to the myriad problems associated with the development of crewed space flight, especially the problem of escaping from an explosion at or during launch. Capsule aerodynamics under actual reentry conditions was another primary concern. To gain this kind of experience as soon as possible, its designers had to keep the clustered booster simple in concept; it should use solid fuel and existing proven equipment whenever possible, and should be free of any electronic guidance and control systems.
The designers made the Little Joe booster assembly to approximate the same performance that the Army's Redstone booster would have with the capsule payload. But in addition to being flexible enough to perform a variety of missions, Little Joe could be made for about one-fifth the basic cost of the Redstone, would have much lower operating costs, and could be developed and delivered with much less time and effort. And, unlike the larger launch vehicles, Little Joe could be shot from the existing facilities at Wallops Island.
(Reference from
Little Joe (rocket))
