On this day, May 5 in 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space while aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft.

The launch was at 9:34AM and the entire flight was over in 15 and a half minutes. A maximum altitude of about 115 miles was reached at the 5 minute mark. Shepard experienced over 11.5 g's during reentry.

...and so began the space race....

Labels: space

Post a comment