On the morning of May
5, 1961 approximately 45 million people were glued to their
television sets to watch as Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. became the
first American is space. The launch was suppose to take place at
7:20am ET but was delayed due to cloud cover. Despite the delay those
tuning in to watch the launch eagerly waited in front of their
television sets. After a wait of more than 2 hours he viewers were
finally rewarded as the MR-3 (Mercury Redstone 3) lifted off at 9:34
am ET (6:34 am PT).
Once the launch took place Mr.
Shepard was rocketed in to space reaching a top speed of 5,134
mph (miles per hour) as he rose to a height of 116.5 miles above the
Earth. After reaching the apogee of his flight Mr. Shepard would
carry out the objectives of his mission of testing the
maneuverability of the Freedom 7 capsule and make observations of the
Earth. The mission was carried off without a hitch and 15 minutes and
28 seconds after the launch the Freedom 7 capsule splashed down in
Lake Champlain. There the capsule and Mr. Shepard were recovered and
helicoptered back to Cape Canaveral.
The road leading up to the launch was 6
months in the making. The Mercury capsule was originally delivered to
Cape Canaveral, Florida on Dec. 9, 1960. The people at NASA (National
Aeronautics and Space Administration) were hoping that they could
quickly get the capsule and booster rocket ready so they could bet
the Soviet Union at getting a man in space. It was soon determined
that all the maintenance and testing would take longer than first
thought. By the time everything was ready for the mission the Soviet
Union had already sent a man into space. Once again we were beaten in
the space-race. It would not be the last time the United States came
in second but soon we would surpass our rivals and the only ones in
space.
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