MR-2 was the twelfth unmanned launch of the Mercury Project and the third to carry a primate.

Crew
Ham the Chimp

Milestones
n/a

Payload
Spacecraft No. 5
Launch Vehicle MR-2

Mission Objective
Primate suborbital and auto abort.

Orbit
Altitude: 157 statute miles
Orbits: 0
Duration: 0 Days, 0 hours, 16 min, 39 seconds
Distance: 422 statute miles
Velocity: 5,857 mph
Max Q: 575 psf
Max G: 14.7

Launch
January 31, 1961 - Launch Complex 5/6 Kennedy Space Center

Landing
Touchdown was at 12:12pm with the capsule about 60 miles from the nearest recovery ship, the destroyer Ellison. Some 27 minutes after landing, a P2V search plane sighted the capsule floating upright alone in the Atlantic. The Navy dispatched helicopters from the next closest ship, the LSD Donner. Wave action after impact punched two holes in the titanium pressure bulkhead and caused the capsule to capsize. Water entered an open relief valve and allowed 800lbs of sea water aboard before the spacecraft was recovered at 2:52pm. The chimpanzee Ham was recovered in good condition.

Mission Highlights
Spacecraft successful. Launch Vehicle only partially successful.

Click here to learn more about the Mercury project and its other missions