Even before the Space Task Group was formally organized, Langley had begun to develop the concept of the "Little Joe" test vehicle that became the workhorse of the nation's initial humans-in-space program – Mercury. Little Joe carried instrumented payloads to various altitudes and allowed engineers to check systems operations.
Even before the Space Task Group was formally organized, Langley had begun to develop the concept of the “Little Joe” test vehicle that became the workhorse of the nation’s initial humans-in-space program – Mercury.
Little Joe, a solid fuel rocket, carried instrumented payloads to various altitudes and allowed engineers to check the operation of the Mercury capsule escape rocket and recovery systems.
Here Langley technicians construct the Little Joe capsules in-house in Langley’s shops.Image Credit: NASA