The Beach Abort was an unmanned test in NASA's Project Mercury, of the Mercury spacecraft Launch Escape System. Objectives of the test were a performance evaluation of the escape system, the parachute and landing system, and recovery operations in an off-the-pad abort situation. The test took place at NASA's Wallops Island, Virginia, test facility on May 9, 1960. In the test, the Mercury spacecraft and its Launch Escape System were fired from the ground level. The flight lasted 1 minute, 16 seconds and reached an apogee of 0.751 kilometres (2,465 ft) and a range of 0.97 kilometres (0.6 mi). A Marine Corps helicopter recovered the spacecraft 17 minutes after launch. Top speed was a velocity of 436 metres per second (976 mph). The test was considered a success, although there was insufficien