The Little Joe 1B was a suborbital launch escape system test of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. The mission also carried a female rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) named Miss Sam in the Mercury spacecraft. January 21, 1960 at 14:23 UTC · Launch Successful Little Joe — National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to Suborbital Launch Area 1, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA Program: Mercury Data: Launch Library 2, The Space Devs. Image via The Space Devs.