55 years ago today at 10:34:13 am ET (14:34:13 UTC), Mercury 3 / Freedom 7 with Astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard lifted off from LC-5 aboard a Mercury / Redstone which was a converted Ubited States AirForce " Redstone " Intermediate Range Ballistic missle at Cape Canaveral Airforce Station, then known as the Cape Canaveral Missle Annex. The rocket lifted off the stand and propelled Mr. Shepard 101.2 nautical miles (187.5 kilometers) into sub-orbital space or the Karmon Line. His spacecraft traveled a downrange distance of 263.1 nautical miles (487.3 kilometers). This is the boundary for Sub-orbit and Low Earth Orbit.
This was the third launch of a Mercury / Redstone, and the second launch with a live subject aboard. The first was aboard was the Astrochimp Ham, a specially trained Chimpanzee that tested the Mercury spacecraft in suborbit to test and qualify the craft for its first human passenger.
This launch was deemed a resounding success but was over shadowed by the second secret launch of Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok-1, as Yuri became the first human into space and to orbit the Earth.
(Photo credit: NASA) MR-7 FREEDOM 7 Mission Patch.
(Phot credt: NASA) Astronaut Alan B Shepard inside Freedom 7 before liftoff.
(Photo credit: NASA) May 5, 1961 Freedom 7 lifts off the stand at LC-5.
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