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| A MR-1A "Goldcraft" cover, postmarked at Port Canaveral on December 19, 1960. |
The MR-1A mission aimed to qualify the spacecraft and flight system for a primate flight. It marked the first test of the Mercury capsule paired with the Redstone launch vehicle and the first recovery of a production-line Mercury spacecraft flown in space. Launched on December 19, 1960, Mercury capsule (#2) followed a suborbital trajectory, reaching an altitude of 212 km (131 miles) and parachuting into the ocean after 15 minutes and 45 seconds. This was the first successful test of the Mercury-Redstone launch system. The mission was renamed MR-1A after a failed launch attempt on November 21, during which the vehicle barely lifted off, the engine shut down, and the rocket settled back onto the launch ring. This mishap triggered the capsule’s escape tower to fire and the parachutes to deploy. The capsule was later refurbished and mounted on a new Redstone rocket for the MR-1A launch.
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| A MR-1A cover from "SpaceCraft," postmarked at Patrick Air Force Base on December 19, 1960. |
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| Photo: A mercury capsule is hoisted to place on top of a Redstone vehicle. |
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| A MR-1A launch cover featuring a printed cachet of a Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle, postmarked at Patrick Air Force Base on December 19, 1960. |
