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[Mercury Redstone 3] The first American in space: Alan Shepard’s triumphant return...
[Mercury Redstone 3] The first American in space: Alan Shepard’s triumphant return to Earth; “Man, what a ride!” Dean Conger, 5 May 1961. Printed 1961. Vintage gelatin silver print on early fiber-based Kodak paper [NASA image 61-MR3–105]. 10×13 cm (3.9×5.1 in), with ”Kodak Velox Paper" watermarks on the verso.
Literature: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, September 1961, pp. 440–441; LIFE, 12 May 1961, pp. 18–19.
On 5 May 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American in space. He is pictured by famous National Geographic photographer Dean Conger as he is triumphantly back from space on the deck of USS Lake Champlain with his Freedom 7 capsule in the background. His 15-minute suborbital hop took him to a height of 116 miles at more than 2 km (1.5 miles) per second before splashdown near Bermuda, 302 miles downrange from Cape Canaveral.
“Everything AOK [all perfect]. . Dye marker out,” Shepard said after the capsule hit the water. Only a half hour after liftoff, the space pioneer came aboard the carrier Lake Champlain after the pickup helicopter had deposited his capsule on deck. His first words were “Man, what a ride!”
While the whole nation watched with a gripping sense of personal and emotional in- volvement, Shepard soared off into space for the most grueling ride any American has ever taken. The man and the machine returned safely to Earth. Then, apparently unaffected by the extreme forces of his flight, Shepard trotted easily across the carrier deck with the manner of the fighter pilot he used to be rather than that of a national hero. But Alan Shepard was a heroic figure. He did not fly as far, fast or high as Russia’s Yuri Gagarin. However, he controlled the flight of his capsule, which Gagagrin did not, and carried out his fantastic mission under the relentless pressure of television and worldwide publicity. (LIFE magazine, “AOK!” the U.S. is in space, 12 May 1961).
Condition Report:Excellent condition.
Please notice: Supplementary material not included.
Category:Photos ▸ Vintage photographs
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[Mercury Redstone 3] The first American in space: Alan Shepard’s triumphant return to Earth; “Man, what a ride!” Dean Conger, 5 May 1961. Printed 1961. Vintage gelatin silver print on early fiber-based Kodak paper [NASA image 61-MR3–105]. 10×13 cm (3.9×5.1 in), with ”Kodak Velox Paper" watermarks on the verso.
Literature: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, September 1961, pp. 440–441; LIFE, 12 May 1961, pp. 18–19.
On 5 May 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American in space. He is pictured by famous National Geographic photographer Dean Conger as he is triumphantly back from space on the deck of USS Lake Champlain with his Freedom 7 capsule in the background. His 15-minute suborbital hop took him to a height of 116 miles at more than 2 km (1.5 miles) per second before splashdown near Bermuda, 302 miles downrange from Cape Canaveral.
“Everything AOK [all perfect]. . Dye marker out,” Shepard said after the capsule hit the water. Only a half hour after liftoff, the space pioneer came aboard the carrier Lake Champlain after the pickup helicopter had deposited his capsule on deck. His first words were “Man, what a ride!”
While the whole nation watched with a gripping sense of personal and emotional in- volvement, Shepard soared off into space for the most grueling ride any American has ever taken. The man and the machine returned safely to Earth. Then, apparently unaffected by the extreme forces of his flight, Shepard trotted easily across the carrier deck with the manner of the fighter pilot he used to be rather than that of a national hero. But Alan Shepard was a heroic figure. He did not fly as far, fast or high as Russia’s Yuri Gagarin. However, he controlled the flight of his capsule, which Gagagrin did not, and carried out his fantastic mission under the relentless pressure of television and worldwide publicity. (LIFE magazine, “AOK!” the U.S. is in space, 12 May 1961).
Condition Report:Excellent condition.
Please notice: Supplementary material not included.
Category:Photos ▸ Vintage photographs
Estimate
Time, Location
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