CANCEL
Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)
Launch Date
May 5, 1961
Craft
Mercury
Status
Past
Crew
1
Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7)
Launch Date
May 5, 1961
Craft
Mercury
Status
Past
Crew
1
Overview
The first U.S. human spaceflight. The mission was suborbital, taking one person to 187.5 km and then splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean 15 minutes 22 seconds after liftoff. During the flight the capsule control systems were tested and the astronaut's ability to withstand the G-forces of launch and reentry was confirmed.
Crafts
Mercury
The Mercury capsule was the United States' first human spacecraft. Built without onboard computers, all flight calculations had to be determined on the ground and radioed up to each crew member. The spacecraft performed two suborbital and four orbital human missions and proved that people could live in space for multiple days.
