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Atlas D Mercury
🇺🇸Atlas LV-3B Big Joe
1:110 Scale
H:26.1 cmD:2.8 cm
~27 bricks tall~4 studs wide
Maiden Launch1959-09-09
2 Stages
Height / Length
28.7 m
Diameter
3.1 m
Launch Mass
120,000 kg
Takeoff Thrust
1,630 kN
LEO Capacity
1,360 kg
Mission Profile
The Atlas D Mercury (Atlas LV-3B, Big Joe) was a two-stage American launch vehicle in the Atlas family, a human-rated variant of the Atlas D ICBM modified under Project Mercury to launch the first American astronauts into orbit. Standing 28.7 m tall with a 3.1 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 120 tonnes, it generated 1,630 kN of liftoff thrust and could deliver 1,360 kg to low Earth orbit. First flying in September 1959, the Atlas D Mercury launched the historic Mercury-Atlas orbital flights of John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, and Gordon Cooper, establishing America's crewed orbital spaceflight capability.
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