Alan Shepard and Freedom 7 (1961): First American in Space

Alan Shepard became the first American in space on 5 May 1961, when he flew the Mercury capsule Freedom 7 on a 15-minute suborbital flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Coming just three weeks after Yuri Gagarin’s orbit of the Earth, the flight was shorter and simpler, but it was carried out in public and on live television. Its success gave President John F. Kennedy the confidence to set the goal of landing Americans on the Moon.

Background: Project Mercury

Project Mercury was approved by the newly created NASA in October 1958, with the aim of putting a single astronaut into orbit and returning him safely. The programme was run by the Space Task Group under the engineer Robert Gilruth. The capsule, built by McDonnell Aircraft, was a small cone-shaped craft with a heat shield at its base.

On 9 April 1959 NASA introduced its first seven astronauts, all military test pilots: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. The “Mercury Seven” became instant celebrities. In January 1961 Gilruth privately chose Shepard to make the first flight, with Grissom and Glenn as the next in line.

The first crewed flights were to be suborbital “up-and-down” missions using the Army-developed Redstone rocket, built by Wernher von Braun’s team in Huntsville. The more powerful Atlas rocket, needed for orbit, was still unreliable.

A missed chance to be first

On 31 January 1961 a Redstone carried the chimpanzee Ham on a suborbital flight. Ham survived, but the rocket burned too hot and too long, sending the capsule higher and farther than planned. Von Braun insisted on one more uncrewed test to correct the problem. This “booster development” flight on 24 March 1961 went well.

Many historians, and Shepard himself, believed that without the extra test he could have flown in late March, ahead of the Soviet Union. Instead, on 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, completing a full orbit. American disappointment was deepened by the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba later that month.

The flight of Freedom 7

Shepard named his capsule Freedom 7, the “7” reflecting the seven astronauts. After a cancellation on 2 May because of weather, he was strapped into the capsule early on 5 May. A series of holds, for clouds, a faulty power inverter and a computer check, kept him waiting on the pad for more than four hours. Because the flight was meant to be short, his suit had no provision for urination, and with permission from the control centre he relieved himself in it.

Frustrated by the delays, Shepard is widely reported to have told controllers to fix their problem and “light this candle”. At 9:34 a.m. Eastern time the Redstone lifted off from Launch Complex 5 at Cape Canaveral, watched by an estimated 45 million television viewers in the United States.

The rocket burned for about two and a half minutes, accelerating Shepard to about 8,260 kilometres per hour (5,130 miles per hour). After separation, the capsule coasted upwards to a maximum altitude of about 187 kilometres (116 miles). During some five minutes of weightlessness Shepard tested the capsule’s manual controls, adjusting its pitch, yaw and roll, and looked out through the periscope, since this early Mercury capsule had only two small portholes rather than a proper window.

The retro-rockets fired to test the system, and the capsule re-entered the atmosphere, subjecting Shepard to forces of about 11 g. Parachutes opened, and Freedom 7 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean about 490 kilometres (302 miles) from the launch site. The total flight time was about 15 minutes and 28 seconds.

Recovery and reception

A US Marine Corps helicopter lifted Shepard out of the sea and flew him, with his capsule, to the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain. He was in good health and in excellent spirits.

Unlike the secretive Soviet programme, the Mercury launch had been announced in advance and covered live by radio and television. On 8 May 1961 Kennedy presented Shepard with the NASA Distinguished Service Medal at the White House, and Shepard was greeted by parades in Washington and his home state of New Hampshire.

Key people

• Alan Shepard (1923–1998), US Navy test pilot and the first American in space.
• Robert Gilruth (1913–2000), head of the Space Task Group, who managed Project Mercury.
• Wernher von Braun (1912–1977), whose team developed the Redstone rocket.
• Gus Grissom (1926–1967), Shepard’s backup, who made the second suborbital flight in July 1961.
• John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), US president, who drew on the flight’s success when setting the Moon goal.

Consequences

The success of Freedom 7 showed that the United States could fly people safely and in public. Twenty days later, on 25 May 1961, Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress and proposed that the nation should commit itself to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. Shepard’s flight, totalling only about 15 minutes of American experience in space, was the basis on which that ambitious promise was made.

Grissom flew a second suborbital mission, Liberty Bell 7, on 21 July 1961. On 20 February 1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.

Shepard was due to fly again but in 1963 was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, an inner-ear disorder that grounded him. After surgery he returned to flight status in 1969 and commanded Apollo 14 in February 1971, becoming the fifth person to walk on the Moon. Freedom 7 is now displayed at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

Myths and facts

Myth: Shepard was just a passenger. Unlike Gagarin’s fully automatic Vostok, Freedom 7 let the astronaut take over. Shepard switched the capsule’s attitude control to manual, one axis at a time, and showed that a pilot could steer a spacecraft in weightlessness.

Myth: Shepard’s flight was a failed attempt to orbit. Freedom 7 was always planned as a suborbital mission. The Redstone rocket was not powerful enough to reach orbital speed, which required the larger Atlas rocket used from 1962.

Myth: the Mercury launch was kept secret until it succeeded. NASA announced the flight in advance and allowed live coverage, accepting the risk that a disaster would be seen by millions. This openness contrasted sharply with the Soviet practice of announcing flights only once they were under way.

By the numbers

Timeline

• 1958, October: NASA approves the programme that becomes Project Mercury.
• 1959, 9 April: NASA introduces the seven Mercury astronauts.
• 1961, 31 January: The chimpanzee Ham flies a suborbital Mercury-Redstone mission.
• 1961, 24 March: An uncrewed Redstone booster test flight succeeds.
• 1961, 12 April: Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space.
• 1961, 5 May: Alan Shepard flies Freedom 7, the first American human spaceflight.
• 1961, 8 May: Kennedy presents Shepard with the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
• 1961, 25 May: Kennedy proposes the Moon landing goal to Congress.
• 1971, 5 February: Shepard walks on the Moon during Apollo 14.

Why it matters

Freedom 7 was a short hop, but it put the United States in the business of human spaceflight and did so in full public view. Its success turned American anxiety after Gagarin into confidence, giving Kennedy the political footing to launch the Apollo programme and the race to the Moon.