Shepard’s Flight was Crucial Step in Long Journey of Exploration

May 5, 2021

After recovery crews attached a cable to the top of the Freedom 7 Mercury spacecraft, Alan Shepard is hoisted into a Marine helicopter hovering overhead. Minutes later, both were delivered to the deck of the USS Lake Champlain. Photo credit: NASA

Project Mercury: America’s First Step in Space – Part 1

By Bob Granath

According to an ancient Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” NASA is preparing to return astronauts to the Moon followed by exploration of Mars, a planet that is 121 million miles from Earth. Those journeys began 60 years ago with a single, 116-mile “step” into space by Alan Shepard on May 5, 1961.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Alan Shepard was the first American in space and he went on to walk on the Moon. — *A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Alan Shepard was the first American in space and he went on to walk on the Moon. Photo credit: NASA*

Human spaceflight began amid a backdrop of the Cold War. The Soviet Union put the first human in space on April 12, 1961. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched aboard a spacecraft named Vostok (Russian for East) and completed an entire orbit of the Earth, landing after a flight of one hour and 58 minutes.

Read more about Yuri Gagarin’s flight.

Three weeks later, Shepard flew aboard a Mercury spacecraft he named Freedom 7. It was a short, 15-minute, 22-second flight into space, but it was a “small step” that has led to many “giant leaps.”

Following the success of Shepard’s flight, President John F. Kennedy knew he needed a bold response to the challenge of the Soviet Union as the Space Race began to heat up.

“We knew we were in a competitive situation,” said Dr. Kurt Debus, NASA’s Launch Operations director at the time. “But, we never permitted the pressure to make us take risks that might endanger Shepard’s life or the success of the mission.”

*In the crew quarters of Hangar S at Cape Canaveral, Alan Shepard is assisted into his spacesuit by pressure suit specialist Joe Schmitt. Photo credit: NASA*

Debus, who would go on to serve as the first director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, knew he and the Project Mercury team were on the verge of something historic.

“We were proud that we were permitted to do some of the pioneering work and aware that we were at the threshold of something very important,” he said.

When Ike Rigell,chief of Project Mercury Electrical Network Systems, looked back at Shepard’s flight, he expressed similar emotions.

“This was a very significant flight, because the country needed this,” he said. “The whole free world needed this flight at that time.”

Following a delay due to unfavorable weather on May 2, 1961, NASA was ready for another attempt to launch Mercury Redstone-3.

Shepard climbed aboard Freedom 7 at 5:15 a.m. for the planned 7:20 a.m. liftoff from Launch Complex 5 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station). But, the launch was held for an hour to allow cloud cover to clear. Next, an inverter in the electrical system had to be repaired. Once the countdown began again, another hold was required to recheck a computer at Goddard Space Flight Center. The Greenbelt, Maryland-based center was responsible for management and operations of Project Mercury’s communication networks.

Shepard Reaches Space

Alan Shepard, right, arrives in the white room atop the Launch Pad 5 gantry at Cape Canaveral and is greeted by fellow Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom. In the background are McDonnell Aircraft Pad Leader Guenter Wendt and back-up astronaut John Glenn. Photo credit: NASA

Finally, at 9:34 a.m., the Mercury Redstone rocket roared to life with 78,000 pounds of thrust.

“Roger, liftoff and the clock has started,” Shepard radioed back to Mercury Control at the Cape.

An estimated 45 million American television viewers watched as the sleek, 83-foot launch vehicle rose into the blue Florida sky. Thousands more “bird watchers” flocked to Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral to witness the historic event.

After the flight, Shepard reported the launch phase went smoothly.

“The cockpit section experienced no vibration and I did not even have to turn up my radio receiver to full volume to hear the radio transmissions.”

*Alan Shepard lies on his back after climbing aboard his Mercury capsule that he named Freedom 7. Photo credit: NASA*

During the rocket’s acceleration, Shepard was subjected to 6.3 g, or 6.3 times his normal weight just before shut down of the Redstone engine, two minutes and 22 seconds after liftoff.

“Ten seconds later, the spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle,” Shepard said.

Soon after, America’s first space traveler got his first view of the Earth.

“What a beautiful view,” Shepard said.

Now weightless in space, Shepard took control of the spacecraft with a hand controller.

With NASA astronaut Alan Shepard aboard Mercury Redstone-3, America's first piloted spaceflight is launched on May 5, 1961 from Launch Complex 5 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (now Space Force Station). — With NASA astronaut Alan Shepard aboard Mercury Redstone-3, America’s first piloted spaceflight is launched on May 5, 1961 from Launch Complex 5 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (now Space Force Station). Photo credit: NASA

These options were not available to Gagarin on Vostok.

“I made this manipulation one axis at a time, switching to pitch, yaw and roll in that order until I had full control of the craft,” he said.

Freedom 7’s retrorockets fired five minutes, 15 seconds after liftoff to begin the return to Earth. Strapped to the heat shield, the retro pack was successfully jettisoned for the return through the atmosphere.

“The re-entry and its attendant acceleration pulse of 11 g was not unduly difficult,” Shepard said, “and I noticed no loss of peripheral vision.”

An experienced Naval aviator, Shepard reported that the splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean “did not seem any more severe than a catapult shot from an aircraft carrier.”

Helicopters dispatched from the recovery carrier, the USS Lake Champlain, were soon hovering above the floating Mercury spacecraft.

*Photographed by an automatic camera, Alan Shepard is seen during his 15-minute suborbital flight reaching an altitude of 116 miles and traveling 302 miles downrange. Photo credit: NASA*

After the main hatch was blown off, Shepard climbed out and into a sling and was hoisted into a Marine helicopter. Both astronaut and Freedom 7 were flown to the deck of the Lake Champlain where sailors cheered the arrival.

The flight of Mercury Redstone-3 ascended to an altitude of 116 miles, the Freedom 7 capsule attained a maximum speed of 5,180 miles per hour and splashed down 302 miles from Cape Canaveral.

Three days after the flight of Freedom 7, President Kennedy presented Shepard with the NASA Distinguished Service medal in a ceremony at the White House.

Opening a New Frontier

Walt Kapryan, who was capsule project engineer for Shepard’s flight, recalled the excitement of being a part of America’s first human spaceflight.

“We felt we were on the threshold of something very important,” Kapryan said. “We were on the threshold of opening a new frontier.”

Kapryan, who went on to become director of Launch Operations at Kennedy, soon learned that feeling was well founded.

A helicopter crew from the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier, USS Lake Champlain, recovers astronaut Alan Shepard. Shepard’s Mercury spacecraft, Freedom 7, is floating in the Atlantic Ocean below. Photo credit: NASA

During a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, Kennedy challenged the nation to take the next steps in the journey in space by “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

In remarks at Rice University in Houston on Sept. 12, 1962, Kennedy put in perspective the challenge that was ahead.

“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,” he said. “Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.”

As Project Mercury’s orbital flights transitioned to the technological advances of Project Gemini, NASA honed skills in maneuverable spacecraft, spacewalking, rendezvous, docking and flights of up to two weeks.

Then came the giant leap to the Moon.

Leaving Earth

On Dec. 21, 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders became the first humans to leave Earth orbit and make the 234,000 mile journey to the Moon. The trio orbited the moon 10 times on Christmas Eve.

Astronaut Alan Shepard arrives on the deck of the USS Lake Champlain after the recovery of his Mercury capsule in the Atlantic Ocean. Shepard and the spacecraft were flown to the deck of the recovery ship within minutes of splashdown. Photo credit: NASA

Kennedy’s goal was achieved in July 1969 when Apollo 11 launched from Kennedy to land on the Moon. While Mike Collins remained aboard the command module in lunar orbit, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in the area known as the Sea of Tranquility. Soon after, Armstrong descended the lunar module’s ladder.

“That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind,” said Armstrong as he stepped onto the lunar soil.

It was just over eight years since Shepard’s small, 15-minute step in what was becoming an ongoing journey. Two years later, he returned to space as commander of the Apollo 14 Moon-landing mission.

By December 1972, 12 NASA astronauts, including Shepard, had walked on the Moon.

President John F. Kennedy pins NASA's Distinguished Service Medal on the jacket of Alan Shepard in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House. Looking on is Shepard's wife, Louise. — *President John F. Kennedy pins NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal on Alan Shepard in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House. Looking on is Shepard’s wife, Louise. Photo credit: NASA*

In the years since Apollo, NASA’s Space Shuttle Program, International Space Station and Commercial Crew Program have allowed astronauts to spend up to a year in space. The agency now is preparing to again venture well beyond low-Earth orbit.

As part of the Artemis lunar exploration program, NASA is planning to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon. The effort is designed to use innovative new technologies and systems to explore more of the Moon than ever before. Plans call for NASA to collaborate with commercial and international partners to establish sustainable missions. From there, NASA will use what was learned on and around the Moon to send astronauts to explore the Red Planet and beyond.

To mark the 50th anniversary of America’s first human spaceflight, the United States Postal Service released this commemorative stamp honoring Alan Shepard.

U.S. Postage Stamp Pays Tribute to First Astronaut

To mark the 50th anniversary of America’s first human spaceflight, the United States Postal Service released this commemorative stamp on May 4, 2011 honoring Alan Shepard. Although other astronauts will follow, he was the first with a U.S. stamp. Photo credit: U. S. Postal Service

Which Astronaut Should the U.S. Postal Service Honor Next?

On May 23, 2018, a stamp was issued celebrating America’s first woman in space, Dr. Sally Ride. She made two trips to Earth orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, the first in 1983 and a second mission in 1984. Photo credit: U. S. Postal Service

Who do you think should be the next U.S. astronaut to be honored with a postage stamp? Leave your selection in the “Leave a Reply” comment section below.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of feature articles marking the 60th anniversary of Project Mercury. Beginning with test flights in 1959 and culminating in America’s first human orbital space missions, the program proved humans can be launched in to space, perform useful work and safely return. In July, read about a narrow escape that proved the value of extensive training.

No copyright claimed for this feature which appeared in its original form on NASA.gov on May 2, 2016 at:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/shepards-mercury-flight-was-first-step-on-the-long-journey-to-mars