The recovery team approaches the unmanned MA-3 capsule after it was taken to the recovery area after being plucked from the ocean by helicopter. The emergency escape system successfully separated the spacecraft from its malfunctioning Atlas booster and dropped it 350 yards off the Cape Canaveral shore. Suffering only cosmetic damage, the capsule was repaired and launched again as Mercury-Atlas 4. Image: NASA.
On this date in 1961, Mercury MA-3, carrying a ‘mechanical astronaut,’ was launched in a failed attempt to orbit the spacecraft. The spacecraft was successfully recovered and was shipped back to McDonnell Aircraft for refitting.
