The old Mercury-redstone BD reached i height of 309 miles, is that Geo-Sinc orbit or just short of it?

Question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_BD

Answer 1

That is WELL short of geosynchronous orbit which is about 22,000 miles and change (I am sure you can find this on wiki.) Keep in mind an orbit that does not intersect with the surface of the Earth is not just a matter of altitude, but also velocity that is directed perpindicular to the line between the object and the center of the Earth.

Answer 2

The Redstone was the precurser to the Army's Pershing Missile. The Redstone never reached geo-sychronous altitude. It had an inertial guidance system that made it impossible to stop once it was launched. The Pershing missile which was the next generation to the Redstone had an official range of 499 knots. That was the maximum range missile the Army was allowed to have. The classified distance was farther. The Russians hated it because it was highly mobile, deployed in Germany and could not be stopped once it was launched. I cost $1000,000 not counting the payload. It had a conventional capability as well as three different size nuclear payloads. The Redstone was developed at White Sands missile range in New Mexico. The Pershing had two deployment locations: Ft Sill, Ok. and Germany. It was one of the best cards that President Regan played against the Soviet Union.

Answer 3

Actually the Mercury rockets where used for the purpose of space flight, Alen Shepard made his historic first flight into space on a Mercury Redstone rocket, just read this link about Alen Shepards famous flight into space and you can see it was only a sub orbital flight at best. Geosynchronous orbit is about 26,200 miles high at it's greatest, Geostationary orbit is about 35,786 km (22,240 statute miles) so a Mercury Redstone rocket could never reach that height, however the Atlas V rocket might be able to reach Geostationary orbit but it might require help.

Answer 4

geo synchronize orbit is at the distance of 36000 kms above the earth surface at 306 miles or 490 kms this is is way below and the spacecraft have to travel fast enough to overcome the earth gravity to stay in its orbit