Aurora
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Atlas LV-3B | Mercury-Atlas 9 launched on Wed, May 15, 1963, 01:04 PM UTC — a National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission.
NET Wed, May 15, 1963, 01:04 PM UTC
Mission profile
Flight simulation
A representative gravity-turn climb for Atlas LV-3B to Low Earth Orbit. Illustrative model — not this mission’s live telemetry.
SimulatedRepresentative Atlas LV-3B ascent profile — illustrative model, not this mission’s live telemetry.
The mission
Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final manned spaceflight of the United States' Mercury program. It carried the Faith 7 spacecraft with astronaut Gordon Cooper to orbit where it completed 22 orbits seconds before reentry. The mission lasted for, 34 hours, 19 minutes & 49 seconds. This was the last time an American was launched to space on a solo orbital mission. The mission had several technical problems, the biggest which was a short-circuit in the bus bar serving the 250 volt main inverter causing the automatic stabilization and control system to stop working during the 21st orbit. In the end Cooper had to use lines he had drawn on the window and his wristwatch to correctly execute burns to safely re-enter the atmosphere.
Around this launch
No news linked to this launch yet
As coverage publishes, deduplicated articles about this mission will appear here.
Good to know
Atlas LV-3B | Mercury-Atlas 9 is scheduled to lift off Wed, May 15, 1963, 01:04 PM UTC.
A live webcast will appear on this page as soon as the provider publishes a stream link.
Atlas LV-3B | Mercury-Atlas 9 is an National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission flying on a Atlas LV-3B.
It lifts off from Space Launch Complex 14, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA.