Project Mercury, Alan Shepard, 1961
Astronaut Alan Shepard is being suited up in his space suit at 2:45 , May 5, 1961, starting the long countdown to launch time. After a pressure check of the suit he will ride to Pad No. 5 launch complex at Cape Canaveral, FL in a transfer van, ride the elevator to the third level, and get into the Freedom 7 spacecraft. The first manned Mercury flight was a brief suborbital launch that took place on May 5, 1961. Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, aboard the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule, launched from launch pad LC-5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 9:34 EST. The entire flight, from liftoff to splashdown, lasted just fifteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Shepard flew 303 statute miles, landing in the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of the Bahamas. During his flight, Shepard reached a maximum altitude of statute miles and a maximum speed of 5,134 miles per hour.
Size: 2956px × 4200px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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