Atlas without top stage

by Jean-Jacques Serra
The Score experiment proved that Atlas could orbit payloads without any top stage. So it was decided to use it for the manned Mercury program, without major modifications. The Redstone rocket used for the first tests of this program wasn't powerful enough to orbit the 1300 kg Mercury spacecraft.

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Atlas launches for the Mercury program

#	Launch id	Payload	Launch date	Type	Status (orbit in perigee x apogee x inc. x period)
1	n/a	Mercury MA-1	29 Jul 1960	D	Ballistic flight
2	n/a	Mercury MA-2	21 Feb 1961	D	Ballistic flight
3	n/a	Mercury MA-3	25 Apr 1961	D	Failled to orbit
4	61025	Mercury MA-4	13 Sep 1961	D	161 x 256 x 32.8 x 88.4
5	61033	Mercury MA-5 (chimpanzee Enos)	29 Nov 1961	D	150 x 242 x 32.6 x 88.3
6	62003	Mercury MA-6 (J. Glenn)	20 Feb 1962	D	161 x 263 x 32.5 x 88.6
7	62019	Mercury MA-7 (S. Carpenter)	24 May 1962	D	161 x 268 x 32.5 x 88.5
8	62052	Mercury MA-8 (W. Schirra)	03 Oct 1962	D	161 x 283 x 32.5 x 88.8
9	63015	Mercury MA-9 (G. Cooper)	15 May 1963	D	161 x 267 x 32.5 x 88.7

Notes: All launches from Cape Canaveral

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