A little-known chapter in the early history of manned space exploration, Little Joe paved the way for Project Mercury and the first manned US space flights. Assigned the task of testing the escape tower system, seven Little Joe boosters were launched from 1959 through 1961. This short film by filmmaker James Duffy serves as an introduction to this obscure but fascinating page in the history of manned space flight that allowed American astronauts to take the first tentative steps into space.
