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Little Joe I
🇺🇸Little Joe LJ
1:110 Scale
H:13.8 cmD:1.8 cm
~14 bricks tall~2 studs wide
Maiden Launch1959-08-21
1 Stage
Height / Length
15.2 m
Diameter
2 m
Launch Mass
12,700 kg
Takeoff Thrust
1,109 kN
Mission Profile
The Little Joe I (Little Joe, LJ) was a single-stage American solid-fuelled test rocket in the Little Joe family, a simple and inexpensive booster designed to test the Mercury spacecraft's escape system under Project Mercury. Standing 15.2 m tall with a 2 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 12.7 tonnes, it generated 1,109 kN of thrust from a cluster of four Castor and four Recruit solid rocket motors. First flying in August 1959 from Wallops Island, the Little Joe launched eight unmanned Mercury abort tests, validating the launch escape system that would protect astronauts during the Mercury programme.
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