Pioneer P-3
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Pioneer P-3 was intended to be a lunar orbiter probe, but the mission failed shortly after launch. The objectives were to place a highly instrumented probe in lunar orbit, to investigate the environme
Pioneer P-3 lunar probe
Atlas-Able 20D launching Pioneer P-3
Propulsion system of Pioneer P-3
Big Joe 1
Videos
Big Joe 1 launched an uncrewed boilerplate Mercury capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 9 September 1959. The purposes of the Big Joe 1 were to test the Mercury spacecraft ablative heat shield, aft
Pioneer P-3
…26 November 1959 from LC-14 at Cape Canaveral Air Station using Atlas vehicle 20D, which had originally been the backup booster for the Mercury Big Joe test in September. Since that flight was successful, Atlas 20D was reused for the Able program, coupled to Thor-Able upper stages including an Able x…
Big Joe 1 at LC-14 in September 1959.
The Big Joe Mercury capsule on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center