Alan Shepard and Freedom 7
May 5, 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American in space aboard the Freedom 7. The image to the left is of Gus Grissom wishing Mr. Shepard good luck as he boards the spacecraft. The mission was to go into space but not go into orbit. The capsule was launched on a Redstone rocket from Cape Canaveral, reached an altitude of 116.5 miles, then fell back on a ballistic trajectory before splashing down in the Bahamas 303 miles away from the launch pad. Shepard observed the earth during the flight and tested the reaction control system of the spaceship as photos were taken by an automatic camera mounted in the spaceship's window. The entire mission lasted only 15 minutes. The flight had been expected to take place around five to six months earlier when the ship was delivered at Cape Canaveral, but the ship ended up needing extensive development and test work before being deemed safe for space flight. Shepard later went on to be the commander of the Apollo 14 mission at the age of 47 from January 31-February 9, 1971.