Mercury-Redstone 1
Mercury spacecraft #2, used on both the MR-1 and MR-1A flights, on display at NASA Ames Exploration Center
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| Mission type | Test flight |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| Mission duration | 2 seconds Launch failure |
| Apogee | 4 inches (10 cm) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Mercury No.2 |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Aircraft |
| Launch mass | 1,230 kilograms (2,720 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | November 21, 1960, 14:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Redstone MRLV MR-1 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-5 |
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Project Mercury
Mercury-Redstone series |
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Mercury-Redstone 1 (MR-1) was the first Mercury-Redstone unmanned flight test in Project Mercury and the first attempt to launch a Mercury spacecraft with the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle. Intended to be an unmanned sub-orbital spaceflight, it was launched on November 21, 1960 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch failed in a peculiar fashion which has been referred to as the "four-inch flight".
The purpose of the MR-1 flight was to qualify the Mercury spacecraft and the Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle for the sub-orbital Mercury mission. It would also qualify the spacecraft's automated flight control and recovery systems, as well as the launch, tracking, and recovery operations on the ground. The flight would also test the Mercury-Redstone's automatic inflight abort sensing system, which would be operating in "open-loop" mode. This meant that the abort sensing system could report a condition requiring an abort, but it would be unable to actually trigger an abort itself. Since the flight did not have a living passenger, this would not pose a safety problem, and it would prevent a faulty abort signal from prematurely ending the flight.
The test used Mercury spacecraft #2 together with Redstone MR-1; its launch location was Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 5. An early launch attempt on November 7 was canceled due to last-minute problems with the capsule, so launching was rescheduled for November 21.
On that day, following a normal countdown, the Mercury-Redstone's engine ignited on schedule at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (14:00 GMT). However, the engine shut down immediately after lift-off from the launch pad. The rocket only rose about 4 inches (10 cm) before settling back onto the pad. Alarms were immediately sounded at LC-5, but the Redstone didn't explode. Instead it merely sat in place, after which a strange sequence of events happened.
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Wikipedia