Nice Little Joe video

[pdooley]

Really cool to see how the inner tanks punched through during spin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqeJzItldSQ

 

[jd2cylman]

That was VERY cool.

Good find.
Adrian

 

[jazzviper1]

It is very cool.
But those were not tanks, they were solid rocket motors.
the Little Joe 2 was built kind of similar to our rockets.
A giant metal tube with centering rings for motor mounts.
They could use several different motor combinations depending on the abort conditions to be tested.

 

[sandman]

That was specifically Apollo Little Joe II round A-004, the final launch test of the pad abort system.

Something went terribly wrong, it wasn't supposed to spin like that.

But as you can see the pad abort system activated successfully.

 

[[POW]Eagle159]

That was an awesome video, THANKS!

Its always cool to see videos like this.
Look at my picture too!

 

[tightwad]

In all my years of watching Apollo videos, I have never seen that launch. Very cool.

 

[closet astronaut]

What everyone else said!

 

[sandman]

I just purchased the "Moon Machines" DVD set from the Discovery Channel.

That video is on the Apollo Command Module episode.

That's why I ordered it! I like everything about the Little Joe II!:wink:

 

[cwbullet]

That is fantastic. Great video. I would love to build a 10-12 inch little Joe.

 

[JStarStar]

That was specifically Apollo Little Joe II round A-004, the final launch test of the pad abort system.

Something went terribly wrong, it wasn't supposed to spin like that.

But as you can see the pad abort system activated successfully.

This launch was the definition of "successful failure," since the objective of the launch itself was to prove the LES could indeed pull the CM off an exploding launch vehicle.

The fact the LJII vehicle blew to bits 30 seconds before it was supposed to was slightly embarrassing, but probably provided a better "combat condition" test for the LES than the actual intended flight profile would have.

I am sure any astronauts watching the test probably said "hell yeah" when the CM touched down under the parachute.