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}} Little Joe II was an American rocket used from 1963–66 for five unmanned tests of the Apollo spacecraft Launch Escape System (LES), and to verify the performance of the Command Module parachute recovery system in abort mode. Named after a similar rocket designed for the same function in Project Mercury, Little Joe II was a single-stage, solid-fuel rocket which used a booster engine developed for the Recruit rocket, and a sustainer engine developed for the Algol stage of the Scout rocket family. Launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, it was the smallest of four launch rockets used in the Apollo program. == Background == The booster's predecessor, Little Joe, had been used in testing the launch escape system for the Mercury spacecraft from 1959–60. The program was originally planned to be conducted at the U.S. Air Force Eastern Test Range at Cape Kennedy, Florida. However, because of a heavy schedule of high-priority launches at that facility, other possible launch sites were evaluated including Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, and Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.〔http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4205/ch4-2.html〕 Launch Complex 36 at White Sands Missile Range, previously used for Redstone missile tests, was ultimately selected as the most suitable for meeting schedule and support requirements. White Sands also allowed land recovery which was less costly and complicated than the water recovery that would have been required at the Eastern Test Range or at the NASA Wallops Island facility. The program was conducted under the direction of the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center), Houston, Texas, with joint participation by the prime contractors for the launch vehicle (General Dynamics/Convair) and spacecraft (North American Rockwell). The White Sands Missile Range administrative, range, and technical organizations provided the facilities, resources, and services required. These included range safety, radar and camera tracking, command transmission, real-time data displays, photography, telemetry data acquisition, data reduction, and recovery operations. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Little Joe II」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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