5. Mercury Redstone 1 flew a total of four inches
Mercury Redstone 1 (MR 1) was a scheduled test of the capsule/booster combination as well as several capsule systems which was originally scheduled for launch on November 7, 1960. The flight was unmanned, so the flight abort system was uninstalled. Problems with the capsule led to the flight being rescheduled for November 21, 1960. On that date, the countdown went smoothly and the launch was initiated at 9.00 AM. The rocket ignited, MR 1 rose about four inches, the rocket shut down, and the vehicle settled back down on the launch pad. The observers waited for it to explode, but it merely remained on the launch pad for a few moments before a series of seemingly unrelated and bizarre events took place.
The MR 1 escape rocket jettisoned, launching itself without the capsule and landing about 400 yards from the launch pad. Several minutes after the escape rocket vacated the scene the capsule released its drogue parachute, which in flight would have been used to deploy the main parachute. The capsule then released the main and backup parachutes, as well as ejecting the radio antenna. Meanwhile, the rocket remained on the pad with nothing securing or supporting it, a potential bomb waiting to explode, with the dangling parachutes threatening to catch the wind and knock it over. In the end, it didn’t fall over or explode, and after the liquid oxygen aboard boiled away the technicians secure the rocket and examined the vehicle for the cause of the failure. Alan Shepard’s scheduled flight was only four months away.