Capsule, Mercury #14

Mercury capsule #14 was one of twenty spacecraft built for the first American human spaceflight program. It was launched twice by Little Joe rockets to simulate escapes from failed boosters. On the first launch (LJ-5A) from Wallops Island, VA, on March 18, 1961, the launch escape tower fired prematurely and failed to carry the craft away from the rocket. A backup system using the retrorockets separated the craft from the booster. A second attempt (LJ-5B) was conducted on April 28, 1961, and the launch escape system functioned as planned even though the trajectory was too low and the aerodynamic pressures were higher than planned.

The spacecraft was subsequently used for explosive-hatch and parachute-system tests from 1961 to 1963. Beginning around 1968 it was exhibited on a Little Joe booster near the NASA Langley Research Center for many years. In 1971 NASA transferred title to the Smithsonian.