[NASA] Building on America’s 65-Year Legacy of Human Spaceflight

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America’s first human spaceflight begins as the Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) space vehicle, with astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. aboard, launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 5, 1961.

NASA

On the morning of May 5, 1961, the

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launch vehicle lifted into the sky from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronaut

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Over the next 15 minutes, Shepard ascended to an altitude of 116 miles (187 kilometers) in his Freedom 7 spacecraft, becoming the first American to fly into space before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. This short flight marked the United States’ entry into human spaceflight and was a defining first step that would carry the nation to the Moon just eight years later.

Sixty-five years later, as NASA accelerates the pace for the Artemis missions that will return astronauts to the surface of the Moon and lay the foundations for a Moon base, the anniversary of Shepard’s flight offers an opportunity to reflect on the pioneering spirit of NASA’s

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and

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missions.

Image credit: NASA

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