Page:Project Mercury - A Chronology.pdf/55

38 NASA completed contract negotiations with McDonnell for the design and development of the Mercury spacecraft. (See fig. 5.) At that time, McDonnell estimated that the first 3 spacecraft could be delivered in 10 months. Spacecraft refinements slipped this estimated goal by only 2 months.



The Little Joe flight test program was drafted. This plan was updated on April 14, 1959. Primary objectives of the test were to investigate flight dynamics, check drogue parachute operations, determine physiological effects of acceleration on a small primate, and, to some extent, check the spacecraft aerodynamic characteristics.