[Mercury Redstone 3] The first American in space: historic liftoff of Freedom...

[Mercury Redstone 3] The first American in space: historic liftoff of Freedom 7 carrying Alan Shepard. NASA, 5 May 1961. Printed 1961. Large format presentation vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-61–1928]. 31×25.4 cm (12.2×10 in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso.

Literature: Chaikin, Space, p. 40 (variant); National Geographic, September 1961, p. 425 (variant).

On 5 May 1961 the United States lit the first candle of its human spaceflight programme with the launch of Mercury Redstone 3.

Alan Shepard became the first American in space, experiencing five minutes of weightlessness during a fifteen-minute parabolic flight on board the Freedom 7 capsule from Cape Canaveral.

[Original NASA caption for the photograph] Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3), the United States' first manned spaceflight, is launched from Cape Canaveral on a suborbital mission. Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. was the pilot of the Mercury spacecraft, designated “Freedom 7”. The spacecraft attained a maximum speed of 5,180 miles per hour (mph), reached an altitude of 116 1/2 statute miles, and landed 302 statute miles downrange from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Condition Report:Minor abrasions and a few small handling cracks on glossy surface of print visible only in a raking light; otherwise very good condition.

Please notice: Supplementary material not included.

Category:Photos ▸ Vintage photographs