the first successful abort using a live LES. A third launch on 8 December 1964, using BP-23, tested the effectiveness of the LES when the pressures and stresses on the spacecraft were similar to what they would be during a Saturn IB or Saturn V launch. The fourth flight, with BP-22 on 19 May 1965, was designed to test the escape system at a high altitude (although the abort actually occurred at low altitude due to a failure of the Little Joe II booster). The final launch, on 20 January 1966, carried the first production spacecraft, CSM-002. Minor spacecraft design deficiencies in the parachute reefing cutters, the drogue and main parachute deployment mortar mountings, and the command and service module umbilical cutters were found and corrected before the crewed Apollo flights began. However, all command modules flown achieved satisfactory landing conditions and confirmed that, had they been crewed spacecraft, the crew would have survived the abort conditions. In addition, two pad abort tests were conducted in which the launch escape system was activated at ground level. Launch configuration summary Surviving examples New Mexico Museum of Space History, Alamogordo, New Mexico Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas Specifications Little Joe II Thrust: 49 to 1,766 kN Length: 10.1 m without - CM/SM/LES Length: 26.2 m with CM/SM/LES Diameter: 3.9 m body Fin span: 8.7 m Weight: 25,900 to 80,300 kg Propellant: solid Burn time: ~50 s Algol motor Thrust: 465 kN each Length: 9.1 m Diameter: 1 m Weight full: 10,180 kg Weight empty: 1,900 kg Propellant: solid Burn time: 40 s Recruit motor (Thiokol XM19) Thrust: 167 kN Length: 2.7 m Diameter: 0.23 m Weight: 159 kg Propellant: solid Burn time: 1.53 s References External links The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology Apollo Program Summary Report Little Joe II Qualification Test Flight Report - September 1963 (PDF) Little Joe II Progress Report - December 1964 (PDF) Little Joe II Mission A-003 - April 1965 (PDF) Little Joe II test launch vehicle NASA Project Apollo. Volume 1 Management - May 1966 (PDF) Little Joe II test launch vehicle NASA Project Apollo. Volume 2 - Technical summary - May 1966 (PDF) NASA TN D-7083: Launch Escape Propulsion Subsystem Little Joe II @ Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Apollo program hardware NASA space launch vehicles bg:Литъл Джо (ракета)