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Building on America’s 65-Year Legacy of Human Spaceflight

In this view from below, the Mercury-Redstone 3 space vehicle shines in the morning sun as it soars into the blue sky above Cape Canaveral, Florida.

America’s first human spaceflight begins as the Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) space vehicle, with astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. aboard, launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 5, 1961.

NASA

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 marked the United States’ entry into human spaceflight and was a defining first step that would carry the nation to the Moon just eight years later.

Sixty-five years later, as NASA accelerates the pace for the Artemis missions that will return astronauts to the surface of the Moon and lay the foundations for a Moon base, the anniversary of Shepard’s flight offers an opportunity to reflect on the pioneering spirit of NASA’s Project Mercury and Project Gemini missions.

Image credit: NASA

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