From The Archives: First McDonnell Mercury Capsule

First Project Mercury space capsule is completed at McDonnell Aircraft Corp. St Louis, Missouri, and was ready to be delivered to National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Wallop's station, Virginia, we reported in the April 18, 1960 issue of Aviation Week. 

The Capsule is 9ft. high and has a base diameter of 6 ft. It is instrumented for escape systems tests to be conducted by NASA's Space Task Group and McDonnell. 

The escape system on top of the pylon above the capsule has a high-impulse rocket to carry the capsule away from the booster if a malfunction occurs in the prelaunch or early lightoff stages. 

Read the full issue of the magazine of the April 18, 1960 of Aviation Week & Space Technology.

Enjoy unlimited access to the complete Aviation Week Archive, which has over 100 Years of Aviation Week — at your fingertips.

Every issue, every page, every article we have ever published. Your subscription includes full access to the archives, plus current Aviation Week & Space Technology articles (both digital and print packages available).