On this daytime in 1961,Alan B. Shepard Jr.muttered to himself , “ Do n’t fuck up , Shepard … ” , huddle together into the Freedom 7 Mercury abridgement , and hook off to become the first American to contact space . These are the photographs from the historic suborbital flight .
Shepard reported observing the outlines of the west coast of Florida , the Gulf of Mexico , and Florida ’s Lake Okeechobee . exposure recognition : NASA
“ On the periscope . . . . What a beautiful prospect . Cloud hide over Florida – three to four tenth part near the eastern coast . Obscured up to Hatteras . . . I can see Okeechobee . Identify Andros Island . Identify the Witwatersrand . ”
Alan Shepard and John Glen enjoy breakfast before Shepard ’s launch . picture mention : NASA
Pre - flight medical check . Photo cite : NASA / NASA
experience assistance pull on the pressure suit . photograph credit : NASA
to the full - dressed in the very glazed pressure level suit . Photo credit : NASA
Communications check-out procedure , then final everything - else check-out procedure , before flight of steps . pic deferred payment : NASA / NASA
Peeking into the capsule prior to launch . Notice the handy “ Remove before trajectory ” warning banner . Photo credit : NASA
Shepard shakes hands with Virgil I. ( Gus ) Grissom while John H. Glenn Jr. looks on ( white cap , centre setting ) . It ’s easy to block that the commencement of every missionary post could be a tragic goodbye . Photo credit : NASA
Astronaut rails - model approaching the condensation , and finally ingress into the cramp Mercury ejector seat . Photo credit : NASA / NASA
After climbing aboard , Shepard was stick by in the ejection seat for more than four minute as NASA dealt with delays . An infuriate Shepard cheer Mission Control :
“ I ’ve been in here more than three hours . I ’m a hell of a lot cooler than you guys . Why do n’t you just fix your little job and ignite this candle ? ”
On May 5 , 1961 , the Mercury - Redstone 3 ( MR-3 ) set in motion from Cape Canaveral on a suborbital mission on America ’s first human - crew spaceflight . Shepard reached an altitude of over 116 mi in the Mercury capsule , and a maximum speed of 5,134 nautical mile per hour , before splosh down in the Atlantic Ocean . Photo credit : NASA
One eggbeater each was used to to recover the astronaut and the capsule after splashdown . Photo credit : NASA .
Alan Shepard being haul aboard the retrieval whirlybird . Click here for more exposure in this sequence . Photo recognition : NASA
Shepard and the Freedom Mercury capsule on the deck of the USS Lake Champlain . photograph credit entry : NASA
“ … I did n’t really feel the flight was a succeeder until the retrieval had been successfully completed . It ’s not the fall that hurts ; it ’s the sudden layover . ”
Shepard with a well - earned swagger and cocky grinning aboard the Navy Carrier Champlain . pic credit : NASA / NASA
Shepard joking with his doctors during a post - flight medical curb . photograph reference : NASA
Completing a postflight inspection of the Mercury capsule that acquit him to space . Photo credit : NASA
Shepard is recognize by Grissom upon his arrival atGrand Bahamas Island . The two of them would shortly join Donald Slayton for a pressure conference . photograph recognition : NASA
Shepard ’s flight was originally schedule for earlier in the year , but was table . The delays meant that the first man in space was Russian cosmonautYuri Alekseyevich Gagarin , accomplish a full orbit during a flight the month earlier on April 12 , 1961 . Shepard later went on to go as a coordinator in the astronaut program , andgolfed on the moon during Apollo 14 .
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