This will be the first orbital mission of the Mercury program, and the first flight of the Atlas booster. The flight will start much the same as with Redstone, with ignition taking place at T-3 seconds. After the engines are confirmed to be running at nominal thrust levels the vehicle will be released from the pad at T-0, from there the vertical ascent sequence begins. Once the vehicle reaches the nominal altitude the pitch maneuver will begin to create the correct trajectory. During the ascent the two side mounted engines, referred to as the "half stage" will run out of fuel and be jettisoned. From there the ascent will continue nominally until MECO, or main engine cutoff. At that point the vehicle will be in a stable, mostly circular orbit and it will be jettisoned. The capsule will then remain in orbit until it is time to return. At which time the triple engine retro pack will begin the return burn, each engine burning for 10 seconds igniting 5 seconds apart. The capsule will then enter the atmosphere once again and come down on parachutes, touching down on the surface where it will be recovered.

Mission Summary

Mission Outcome: Failure

Reason For Failure: Vehicle lost control on main ascent. Launch escape tower was activated, the craft splashed down safely and was recovered.

Mission Time: 4 minutes 22 seconds

Highest Alt: 16,799 meters

Highest Speed: 518 meters per second

Most G-Force: 10G