Freedom 7
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NASA
Building on America’s 65-Year Legacy of Human Spaceflight
On the morning of May 5, 1961, the Mercury-Redstone 3 launch vehicle lifted into the sky from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. Over the next 15 minutes, Shepard ascended to an altitude of 116 miles (187 kilometers) in his Freedom 7 spacecraft, becoming the first American to fly into space before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. This short flight…
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NASA
Celebrating Astronaut Alan Shepard’s 100th Birthday
Born barely 20 years after the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Alan Shepard grew up to fly combat missions in World War II, test multiple new aircraft, become the first American in space, and ultimately hit the first golf shot on the Moon. Born on Nov. 18, 1923, Shepard lifted off in the Freedom 7 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 5,…
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