Miss Sam the Rhesus monkey, pilot of Little Joe 1B. (NASA)
The Little Joe 1B was a Launch Escape System test of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. The mission also carried a female Rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) named Miss Sam in the Mercury spacecraft. The mission was launched January 21, 1960, from Wallops Island, Virginia. The Little Joe 1B flew to an apogee of 9 miles (14.5 km) and a range of 12 miles (19.3 km) out to sea. Miss Sam survived the 8 minute 35 second flight in good condition. The spacecraft was recovered by a Marine helicopter and returned to Wallops Island within about 45 minutes. Maximum speed was 2,055 mph (3,307 km/h) and acceleration was 4.5 g (44 m/sē). Miss Sam was one of many Monkeys in space. Payload 1,007 kg.
The LittleJoe II, originally conceived in June 1961, was a solid-fuel rocket booster which would be used to man-rate the launch escape system for the command module.
Its objectives were to prove the LittleJoe's capability as an Apollo spacecraft test vehicle and to determine base pressures and heating on the missile.
A LittleJoe II failure investigation presentation was made at MSC July 13 in which General Dynamics/ Convair (GD/C) and MSC's Engineering and Development (EandD) Directorate presented results of independent failure investigations of the mishap which occurred during Apollo Mission A-003 (Boilerplate 22) on June 22, 1965, at WSMR.
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