flown missionFailure

Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 1

National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationLaunch Complex 5 — Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Either the launch vehicle did not reach orbit, or the payload(s) failed to separate.

mission

Name
Mercury-Redstone 1
Type
Test Flight
Target orbit
Suborbital (Sub)

Mercury-Redstone 1 (MR-1) was the first Mercury-Redstone uncrewed flight test in Project Mercury and the first attempt to launch a Mercury spacecraft with the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle. Intended to be an uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflight, it was launched on November 21, 1960 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch failed in abnormal fashion: immediately after the Mercury-Redstone rocket started to move, it shut itself down and settled back on the pad, after which the capsule jettisoned its escape rocket and deployed its recovery parachutes. The failure has been referred to as the "four-inch flight", for the approximate distance traveled by the launch vehicle.

schedule

NET (no earlier than)
Window opens
Window closes
Last updated

vehicle & provider

Rocket
Redstone MRLV
Family
Redstone
Variant
MRLV
Provider
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Type
Government
Country
USA

launch site

Pad
Launch Complex 5
Location
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Country
USA
Timezone
America/New_York