Freedom 7

The words

1. Alan Shepard

   Shepard piloted Freedom 7 in 1961. He returned to space ten years later as commander of Apollo 14, walking on the Moon in 1971.

   Smithsonian: Shepard’s two spaceflights (opens a new tab)

2. Cherry Picker

   The cherry picker was a mobile exit tower beside the Mercury rocket. It offered the astronaut an emergency route away from the pad before launch.

   Did you know?

   The mobile tower was delivered to Cape Canaveral on October 24, 1960, months before Shepard’s flight.

   NASA chronology: the cherry picker (opens a new tab) · NASA history: Mercury’s ground teams (opens a new tab)

3. Chris Kraft

   Christopher C. Kraft served as flight director and designed the Mercury Control Center at Cape Canaveral. The center’s team monitored Shepard and Freedom 7 throughout the mission.

   NASA: Shepard’s flight and recovery (opens a new tab)

4. Complex Five

   Shepard’s Mercury-Redstone rocket lifted off from Launch Pad 5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 5, 1961. The pad supported the first American human spaceflight.

   NASA: Shepard’s flight and recovery (opens a new tab)

5. Control Stick

   A control stick in Shepard’s right hand operated small jets that changed Freedom 7’s orientation. It let him test how the capsule responded to his movements.

   Did you know?

   Shepard studied a photographic chart of his instrument panel before flight because the capsule’s cramped interior made extended study awkward.

   Object A19670175000 · Smithsonian: Shepard’s instrument panel (opens a new tab)

6. First American

   Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961. Yuri Gagarin had made the first human spaceflight on April 12, less than a month earlier.

   NASA: Shepard’s flight and recovery (opens a new tab)

7. Freedom

   Freedom 7 was the name Shepard gave his Mercury capsule. NASA designated the mission Mercury-Redstone 3, or MR-3.

   Did you know?

   NASA transferred Freedom 7 to the Smithsonian in October 1961. It was the first human spacecraft added to the National Collection.

   Object A19620021000 · Smithsonian: the Freedom 7 capsule (opens a new tab)

8. Grand Bahama

   After an initial medical examination aboard the recovery ship, Shepard traveled to Grand Bahama Island. Medical and technical specialists there questioned him about the flight and spacecraft performance.

   p. 358 · NASA history: Mercury’s ground teams (opens a new tab)

9. Lake Champlain

   The aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain served as Freedom 7’s recovery ship. A helicopter brought Shepard and his capsule aboard after their Atlantic splashdown.

   NASA: Shepard’s flight and recovery (opens a new tab)

10. Manual Control

    During the weightless part of his flight, Shepard took over control of Freedom 7’s orientation. He tested the capsule’s response while the ground team followed his progress.

    NASA: Shepard’s flight and recovery (opens a new tab)

11. McDonnell

    McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis built Mercury spacecraft for NASA. Its single-seat Freedom 7 capsule carried Shepard on the program’s first human flight.

    Smithsonian: the Freedom 7 capsule (opens a new tab) · NASA: Shepard’s flight and recovery (opens a new tab)

12. Portholes

    Freedom 7 had small portholes that gave Shepard a limited view. Later Mercury capsules used a larger window in front of the astronaut’s head.

    Smithsonian: the Freedom 7 capsule (opens a new tab) · Smithsonian: Shepard’s instrument panel (opens a new tab)

13. Rose Garden

    President John F. Kennedy presented Shepard with NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal in the White House Rose Garden on May 8, 1961.

    Photograph F08_002_01 · NASA: Shepard’s White House medal (opens a new tab)

14. Suborbital

    Freedom 7 reached space and returned to Earth without completing an orbit. Its entire flight lasted about fifteen minutes.

    Mission Facts; Orbit · NASA: Freedom 7 mission facts (opens a new tab)

15. Trajectory

    The path a spacecraft follows.

    Freedom 7 splashed down about 300 miles (480 km) from Cape Canaveral. Its suborbital trajectory took Shepard into space and returned him to the sea.

    Object A19620021000 · Smithsonian: the Freedom 7 capsule (opens a new tab)