Mercury-Redstone 1A

Mercury-Redstone 1A

Mercury spacecraft #2, used on both the MR-1 and MR-1A flights, on display at NASA Ames Exploration Center.
Mission type	Test flight
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	15 minutes, 45 seconds
Distance travelled	378.2 kilometers (235.0 mi)
Apogee	210.3 kilometers (130.7 mi)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Mercury No.2
Manufacturer	McDonnell Aircraft
Launch mass	1,230 kilograms (2,720 lb)[1][note 1]
Start of mission
Launch date	December 19, 1960, 16:15 (1960-12-19UTC16:15Z) UTC
Rocket	Redstone MRLV MR-3
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-5
End of mission
Recovered by	USS Valley Forge
Landing date	December 19, 1960, 16:30 (1960-12-19UTC16:31Z) UTC
Project Mercury ← Mercury-Redstone 1 Mercury-Redstone 2 →

Mercury-Redstone 1A (MR-1A) was launched on December 19, 1960 from LC-5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission objectives of this uncrewed suborbital flight were to qualify the spacecraft for space flight and qualify the system for an upcoming primate suborbital flight. The spacecraft tested its instrumentation, posigrade rockets, retrorockets and recovery system. The mission was completely successful. The Mercury capsule reached an altitude of 130 miles (210 km) and a range of 235 miles (378 km). The launch vehicle reached a slightly higher velocity than expected - 4,909 miles per hour (7,900 km/h). The Mercury spacecraft was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean by recovery helicopters about 15 minutes after landing. Serial numbers: Mercury Spacecraft #2 was reflown on MR-1A, together with the escape tower from Capsule #8 and the antenna fairing from Capsule #10. Redstone MRLV-3 was used. The flight time was 15 minutes and 45 seconds.

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