Freedom 7

United States space capsule

Also known as: Mercury-Redstone 3

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June 26, 2026

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The Freedom 7 was the United States' first crewed space capsule, part of Project Mercury. Launched on May 5, 1961, it carried astronaut Alan Shepard on a 15-minute suborbital flight, reaching an altitude of 116 miles. This mission marked the first time an American traveled into space, occurring shortly after the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. The Mercury capsule, weighing about 3,000 pounds, was launched by a Redstone rocket. While not an orbital flight, Shepard's journey energized U.S. space efforts and made him a national hero. Subsequent Mercury missions utilized more powerful Atlas rockets and achieved orbital flights.123

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Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
…15-minute suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, which reached an altitude of 115 miles (185 km). The flight came 23 days after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space, but Shepard’s flight energized U.S. space efforts and made him a national hero.
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…15-minute suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, which reached an altitude of 115 miles (185 km). The flight came 23 days after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space, but Shepard’s flight energized U.S. space efforts and made him a national hero.
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Mercury
…a Mercury space capsule dubbed Freedom 7 on a 486-km (302-mile) flight of 15-minute duration, attaining a maximum altitude of 186 km (116 miles). The Freedom 7, like its successor on the second suborbital flight, was launched by a Redstone rocket. Subsequent crewed flights in the Mercury program were launched…
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…a Mercury space capsule dubbed Freedom 7 on a 486-km (302-mile) flight of 15-minute duration, attaining a maximum altitude of 186 km (116 miles). The Freedom 7, like its successor on the second suborbital flight, was launched by a Redstone rocket. Subsequent crewed flights in the Mercury program were launched…
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Katherine Johnson
…she calculated the path for Freedom 7, the spacecraft that put the first U.S astronaut in space, Alan B. Shepard, Jr. The following year, at the request of John Glenn, Johnson verified that the electronic computer had planned his flight correctly. Glenn subsequently made history aboard Friendship 7, becoming the…
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…she calculated the path for Freedom 7, the spacecraft that put the first U.S astronaut in space, Alan B. Shepard, Jr. The following year, at the request of John Glenn, Johnson verified that the electronic computer had planned his flight correctly. Glenn subsequently made history aboard Friendship 7, becoming the…
Read More