Beach abort

Beach Abort - a test unmanned launch of a spacecraft under the Mercury program without a launch vehicle ^[1] .

Tested on May 9, 1960 at the NASA training ground on Wallops Island, Virginia. The main objective of the launch is to test the emergency rescue system (CAC), the parachute system and practice rescue operations in case of an accident at the start.

The spacecraft "Mercury" was launched from ground level using CAC. The flight lasted 1 minute 16 seconds, the maximum altitude - 0.750 km, range - 1.6 km. The Marine Corps helicopter lifted the spacecraft out of the ocean 17 minutes after launch. The maximum speed is 1,571 km / h. The test was considered successful, although the CAC engines carried the ship to an insufficient distance, and the truss, on which the CAC propulsion system was mounted, was not thrown far enough from the ship after separation. For testing, the spacecraft Mercury No. 1, the first spacecraft built by McDonnell, was used . The mass of the payload was 1,154 kg.

Spaceship on earth. CAC launch (on the tower).

The flight of the spacecraft and the shooting of the tower SAS.