Previous Spaceflight Launches
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Thor Able IV | Pioneer V
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
March 11, 1960, 1 p.m.
Atlas Agena A | Midas 1
Convair | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Feb. 26, 1960, 5:25 p.m.
Thor Agena A | Discoverer 10
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Feb. 19, 1960, 8:15 p.m.
Thor Agena A | Discoverer 9
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Feb. 4, 1960, 6:51 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:
Discoverer 9 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite, the sixth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series, and the first of them to be equipped with a new, vacuum-proof, polyester-based film. The satellite was not successfully orbited.
Low Earth Orbit
Little Joe | LJ-1B
North American Aviation | United States of AmericaWallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
Jan. 21, 1960, 2:23 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
The Little Joe 1B was a suborbital launch escape system test of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. The mission also carried a female rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) named Miss Sam in the Mercury spacecraft.
SuborbitalLittle Joe | LJ-2
North American Aviation | United States of AmericaWallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
Dec. 4, 1959, 4:20 p.m.
Atlas-Able | P-3
Convair | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Nov. 26, 1959, 7:26 a.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:
The Pioneer P-1, -3, -30 and -31 series 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 environment between the Earth and Moon, and to develop technology for controlling and maneuvering spacecraft from Earth.
Lunar OrbitThor Agena A | Discoverer 8
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Nov. 20, 1959, 7:25 p.m.
Thor Agena A | Discoverer 7
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Nov. 7, 1959, 8:28 p.m.
Little Joe | LJ-1A
North American Aviation | United States of AmericaWallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
Nov. 4, 1959, 2:30 p.m.
Status: Launch was a Partial Failure
Mission:
Little Joe 1A (LJ-1A) was an unmanned rocket launched as part of NASA's Mercury program on November 4, 1959. This flight, a repeat of the Little Joe 1 (LJ-1) launch, was to test a launch abort under high aerodynamic load conditions. Due to a delayed in the escape motor startup, the abort maneuver was not accomplished at the desired dynamic pressure, requiring a repeat of the test.
Suborbital
