The Little Joe 6 was a launch escape system test of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. October 4, 1959 at 10:00 UTC · Launch was a Partial Failure 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.