Smithsonian Air and Space Museum / The Mercury capsule named 'BigJoe' was launched on September 9, 1959, from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas 10-D rocket to test the Mercury Richard Erwin                                           spacecraft heat shield. The capsule reached an altitude of 90 miles and was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean 1424 miles from the Cape, despite 8/10/2009                                                  the failure of the Atlas booster to stage and separate properly (it was late). Nevertheless, the mission was a success and further tests were cancelled.