Alan Shepherd became the first American in space on May 5, 1961
Shepherd’s flight went 116 miles high and lasted 15.5 minutes.
MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Alan Shepherd became the first American in space on May 5, 1961 - it was NASA’s first Mercury mission.
The flight was the United States answer to the USSR launching cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space on April 12, 1961. Gagarin was the first human in space.
Shepherd named his spacecraft the Freedom 7. It weighed 2300 pounds and traveled 116 miles high. The flight lasted around 15.5 minutes.
Freedom 7 was launched at 9:34 a.m. eastern time from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was atop the Redstone rocket and reached a maximum speed of 5100 miles-per-hour.
Shepherd was weightless for about 5 minutes. The flight splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and as soon as he was safely recovered the mission was deemed a success.
The mission was the first leg of the space race with the USSR and began America’s journey to the moon.
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