Which booster was used to send the 1st American into orbit?
Orion abort modes NASA's newest spacecraft, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), will be the first American spacecraft since Project Apollo to use an escape system in the event of a launch abort, something its predecessor, the Space Shuttle, had for only its first four orbital test flights in 1981-1982. Like the Apollo Command-Service Module (CSM), the Orion CEV will use the Launch escape system (LES), a solid-fueled tractor rocket that will be able to pull the Orion crew module away from a malfunctioning Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during the initial launch phase. Based on the launch escape system found on the Soviet/Russian Soyuz spacecraft, the LAS, designed and manufactured by ATK for the Orion CEV, will be larger than the Soyuz version and will have more thrust than the Atlas 109-D booster that carried astronaut John Glenn into orbit in 1962.
STS-61-H STS-61-H was a United States Space Shuttle mission planned to launch on June 24, 1986 using "Columbia". However, it was cancelled after the "Challenger" disaster.