MR-2 (12)

Mercury Redstone 2

Pad LC-5 ()

Redstone (3)

Crew:

Ham the Chimp

Milestones:

Payload:

Spacecraft No. 5, Launch Vehicle MR-2

Mission Objective:

Primate suborbital and auto abort

Launch:

January 31, 1961 - Launch Complex 5/6 Kennedy Space Center

Orbit:

Altitude: 157 statute miles

Orbits: 0

Duration: 0 Days, 0 hours, 16 min, 39 seconds

Distance: 422 statute miles

Velocity: 5,857 mph

Max Q: 575 psf

Max G: 14.7

Landing:

Touchdown was at 12:12pm with the capsule about 60 miles from the nearest recovery ship, the destroyer Ellison. Some 27 minutes after landing, a P2V search plane sighted the capsule floating upright alone in the Atlantic. The Navy dispatched helicopters from the next closest ship, the LSD Donner. Wave action after impact punched two holes in the titanium pressure bulkhead and caused the capsule to capsize. Water entered an open relief valve and allowed 800lbs of sea water aboard before the spacecraft was recovered at 2:52pm. The chimpanzee Ham was recovered in good condition.

Mission Highlights:

Spacecraft successful. Launch Vehicle only partially successful.

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