Big Joe
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| Big Joe 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
 Big Joe 1 Launch preparations |
Big Joe was a subprogram of Project Mercury. It comprised a single flight using the Atlas launch vehicle, and a boilerplate Mercury capsule. The purpose of the Big Joe Program was to prove the ablative heatshield which would be used for Mercury orbital missions.
[edit] Mission Numbering
The official Mercury mission numbering designation was a two letter designation which corresponded to the launch vehicle type, followed by a dash then a 1 or two character designation of the flight/test number. So the official designation for the only Big Joe flight was BJ-1.
[edit] Atlas Launch Vehicle Numbering
The launch vehicle used for BJ-1 ("628/10-D") has a slightly different numbering scheme than those used for the later Mercury-Atlas flights.
