Assembling the Little Joe capsule. The capsules were manufactured "in-house" by Langley technicians. The antenna housing is about to be installed by the technician. Joseph Shortal wrote (vol. 3, p. 33): "The antenna housing or canister, located on top of the cylindrical section was removable and housed the 6-foot drogue chute and covered the antennas for the beacons used as part of the recovery aid system. This section was made of 0.03-inch corrugated Inconel. A conical fiber glass shield protected the canister from the exhaust of the escape rocket." "Design of the Little Joe capsules began at Langley before McDonnell started on the design of the Mercury capsule and was, therefore, a separate design. Although it was not designed to carry a man, it did have to carry a monkey. It had to meet the weight and center of gravity requirements of Mercury and withstand the same aerodynamic loads during the exit trajectory." (vol. 3, p. 32) "Although in comparison with the overall Mercury Project, Little Joe was a simple undertaking, the fact that an attempt was made to condense a normal two-year project into a 6-month one with in house labor turned it into a major undertaking for Langley.
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