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Mercury 3

Mercury 3
Mission Statistics
Mission Name:Mercury MR-3
Call Sign:Freedom 7
Number of Crew Members:1
Launch:May 5, 1961
14:34 UTC
Cape Canaveral Complex 5
Landing:May 5, 1961
14:49:28 UTC
Duration:15 minutes, 28 seconds
Number of Orbits:None

Mercury 3 was a U.S Mercury program manned space mission launched on May 5, 1961 using a Redstone rocket. The Mercury capsule was named "Freedom 7" and performed a suborbital flight, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Shepard became the first astronaut to return to Earth with his ship as the Russian cosmonauts had to parachute away from theirs during landing.

The flight lasted 15 minutes, and the spacecraft traveled 300 miles from its launch point, ascending over 100 miles.

Crew

Mission Parameters

Previous Mission:
Mercury 3 was the first US manned space mission.
Mercury Next Mission:
Mercury 4