National Air and Space Museum Archives

Project Mercury "Big Joe" Installation Records (Eiband Collection)

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.XXXX.0189
Creators:
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Dates:
1959
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
2.18 Cubic feet
(2 records center boxes)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection contains data on the Big Joe capsule and its operation. The material includes blueprints of the thermocouple, telemetry, cooling, instrument, intercom, and other systems. It also contains notes and information on operations, afterbody assembly, personnel assignments, and safety measures, as well as other aspects of the work performed with the capsule during the Big Joe project.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Soon after the organization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in October 1959, that agency selected Project Mercury as the first United States manned space program. The project was planned to launch a single man into Earth orbit and return him to Earth. Before launching a manned flight NASA planned a series of unmanned launches with the Mercury spacecraft/launch vehicle combinations to insure the success of later manned flights. The first successful launch of an instrumented Mercury boiler plate capsule, dubbed 'Big Joe' occurred on 9 September 1959 on an Atlas-10D booster from Cape Canaveral. The capsule reached an altitude of 161km (100 miles)e successfully reentering the atmosphere.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
A. Martin Eibrand, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Gift, unknown, XXXX-0189, unknown

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

More Information

General

General
NASMrev


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Manned space flight Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Space flight Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Astronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Notes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Project Mercury (U.S.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Big Joe (Space capsule) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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