I photographed the Mercury Capsule 14 at the Virginia Air & Space Science Center
This spacecraft was flown once, unmanned, on April 28, 1961, for the Mercury-Atlas 3 (MA-3) mission. The rocket had to be destroyed shortly after launch by the range safety officer because it failed to follow its intended path. While never reaching space, the capsule’s escape system worked perfectly, pulling the spacecraft away and allowing it to be recovered.