Little Joe II (A-001)

Little Joe II was an enlarged version of the Little Joe concept used during Project Mercury. The Purpose of Little Joe II was to test the capabilities of the Apollo launch escape system.

Following the successful test of the QTV, Little Joe II A-001 was launched on the morning of 13 May 1964, at White Sands, New Mexico.

The Little Joe II launch vehicle rammed Boilerplate (BP) 12 to an altitude of 4,700 meters, to see if the launch escape system could propel the spacecraft away from the booster after it had reached transonic speed. Only one incident marred an otherwise successful flight.

A parachute riser broke during descent, collapsing one of the three main parachutes. The boilerplate landed safely on the two remaining parachutes, in what one engineer later called “a welcome unplanned result of the test.”