Mercury 3 - Alan Shepard

[ekoplaneta]

Wczoraj minęła 55 rocznica suborbitalnego lotu Alana Sheparda, w kapsule Mercury

http://lk.astronautilus.pl/loty/m3.htm

http://www.space.com/9887-freedom-7-alan-shepard-mercury-flight.html

[Orionid]

A za nami już 58. rocznica lotu.
http://lk.astronautilus.pl/loty/m3.htm

05.05.1961 o 14:34:13,48 z wyrzutni LC-5 na Cape Canaveral  została wystrzelona RN Redstone MRLV , która wyniosła na wysokość 187 km statek kosmiczny Mercury 3 Freedom 7  z pierwszym Amerykaninem, który przekroczył linię Kármána.
Lot trwał 15m 22s.

1961 May 5 - . 14:34 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Redstone. Launch Vehicle: Redstone MRLV.

Mercury MR-3 - . Call Sign: Freedom 7. Crew: Shepard. Backup Crew: Grissom. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Grissom, Shepard. Agency: NASA. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Mercury MR-3. Spacecraft: Mercury. Duration: 0.0107 days. Apogee: 187 km (116 mi).

Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., made the first United States manned space flight in a Mercury spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral atop the Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) vehicle. "Freedom 7" completed the suborbital, ballistic flight without incident in this historical first mission of NASA's Project Mercury. Alan Shepard first American in space, less than a month after Gagarin and only on a 15 minute suborbital flight. Only manned flight with original Mercury capsule design (tiny round porthole and periscope a la Vostok). If NASA had not listened to Von Braun, Shepard would have flown on the MR-BD flight of 24 March, beating Gagarin by three weeks and becoming the first man in space (though not in orbit). Shepard's capsule reached an altitude of 115.696 miles, range of 302 miles,and speed of 5,100 miles per hour. He demonstrated control of a vehicle during weightlessness and high G stresses. Recovery operations were perfect; there was no damage to the spacecraft; and Astronaut Shepard was in excellent condition.

http://www.astronautix.com/m/may05.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_3

“What a Beautiful View”: Remembering America’s First Man in Space, OTD in 1961
By Ben Evans, on May 5th, 2019


The excited crew of the U.S.S. Lake Champlain watch Shepard’s final seconds of descent. Twelve hundred would crowd the deck to welcome America’s newest hero home. Photo Credit: NASA

Less than 24 hours after Prather’s demise, it was, for Shepard and for America, “a beautiful day”. Twelve hundred sailors crowded the deck of the Lake Champlain, cheering the nation’s newest hero. Freedom 7 would be exhibited at 1961’s Paris Air Show, and the astronaut himself set foot on the deck of the recovery ship as the clock struck 10. Across the nation, the euphoria was electrifying. Floridians cheered, John Glenn jokingly asked for another Redstone to be set up for him, New Hampshire’s governor visited Shepard’s hometown, schools were closed and military aircraft dropped confetti. The astronaut’s proud parents and sister rode in an open-topped convertible, his wife, Louise, chatted to journalists outside her Virginia Beach home and Navy jets spelled the letter “S” in the sky.

For the hero, the first hour back on Earth was spent reliving the 15 minutes in mind-numbing detail for the physicians, the psychologists, the engineers, and the scientists. No, he did not sleep. No, he did not defecate. Yes, there was a noticeable odor in the cabin (urine). The questions seemed unending. He was then flown to Grand Bahama Island for several days of tests. (...)
https://www.americaspace.com/2019/05/05/what-a-beautiful-view-remembering-americas-first-man-in-space-otd-in-1961/

https://www.forum.kosmonauta.net/index.php?topic=800.msg92529#msg92529
https://twitter.com/NASAhistory/status/1654478557806993408
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1654514992769531914
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1654606905086550016
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1654625798094049286
https://twitter.com/ron_eisele/status/1786839494232002973
https://twitter.com/ron_eisele/status/1786839629045350692

[Orionid]

O trudnej drodze powrotu astronauty w kosmos

'It's Been A Long Way': Remembering the Return of the Rookie, 50 Years On
By Ben Evans, on May 13th, 2019

(...) Several astronauts, Cooper included, were vocal in their discomfort at having Shepard train for a lunar landing mission with only a few months’ notice. As a result, on 6 August 1969, NASA announced the crews for Apollo 13 and Apollo 14, scheduled to occur in April and October of the following year; Lovell would command 13 and Shepard would lead 14, affording America’s first man in space additional time to prepare. Joining Shepard would be Stu Roosa as Command Module Pilot (CMP) and Ed Mitchell as Lunar Module Pilot (LMP). Mitchell had previously served with Cooper on the Apollo 10 backup team, whilst Roosa—having turned in a sterling performance in Mission Control during Apollo 9—had seized managers’ attention and admiration. (...)
https://www.americaspace.com/2019/05/13/its-been-a-long-way-remembering-the-return-of-the-rookie-50-years-on/#more-107950

http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/002237.html
2)

5 mai 1961...
Il y 60 ans, Alan Shepard devient le 1er américain dans l'espace avec la capsule Freedom 7 (MR-3).
Il ''ne s'agit'' que d'un vol suborbital de 15 min mais les USA sont de nouveau dans la course à l'espace après le vol de Youri Gagarine.
http://spacerelics.blogspot.com/2011/05/5-mai-1961-freedom-7-et-alan-shepard.html

https://twitter.com/spacemen1969/status/1786882747128004912

[Orionid]

Skafander astronauty.
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/conserving-digitizing-shepard-suit
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1654650548887474177

2) 2024 MAJ 07 15:29 KOSMONAUTA.NET
Na pokładzie suborbitalnego lotu z 5 maja 1961
Jak wyglądał pierwszy amerykański lot kosmiczny - a w zasadzie "skok" ponad granicę atmosfery? W tym locie, z 5 maja 1961, wział udział Alan Shepard.


3)
https://twitter.com/ron_eisele/status/1814744939692966367

Died 21 July 1998. Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer and NASA astronaut. First American in space.

[Orionid]

62 lata temu, 08.05.1961, prezydent JFK odznaczył astronautę (Distinguished Service Medal).

On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy presented Alan Shepard with @NASA's Distinguished Service Medal after his Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) flight that made him the first American in space.

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/distinguished-service-medal-nasa-1961-alan-shepard/nasm_A19640048000
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1655670177764089856

[Orionid]

Szczegółowy opis sprzed 65. lat

Science: Freedom's Flight
by TIME May 12, 1961 5:00 AM G00

(...) Shepard himself had already put in even longer hours of preparation. That morning, he had been awakened at i a.m. After a shower and shave he had break fast: orange juice, eggs, tea and a y-oz. filet mignon wrapped in bacon was characteristic of the substantial but lowresidue diet that astronauts stick to when about to make a flight. After eating, Shepard got an elaborate physical examination. Everything was normal; so he moved to the suiting room to get into his space gear.

First “clothes” applied were four electrocardiograph sensors glued to his chest. Then came a respirometer (to measure breathing) taped to his neck and a rectal thermometer to measure deep body temperature. Wires from all these instruments were gathered at a metal plug that would be fitted later into the space suit. After all wires and instruments were checked, Shepard donned long underwear with built-in spongy pads to aid air circulation. Then he was helped into his 30-lb. space suit made of aluminized nylon outside and rubberized nylon inside. It was a tight squeeze. Before all Zippers, straps and metal fittings were set properly in place, Shepard was sweating profusely and breathing hard. As soon as he got his helmet on, he lay down on a specially fitted contour couch, feet held up in clamps, while his oxygen and air-pressure hoses were attached. (...)

https://time.com/archive/6807517/science-freedoms-flight/

[Orionid]

Skąd te 13 minut o trwaniu lotu ?
Administrator wie lepiej?

NASA History Office @NASAhistory 3:00 PM · May 5, 2026
May 5, 1961: Freedom 7 soars into space with NASA astronaut Alan Shepard aboard—the United States’ first human spaceflight.
65 years later, this same pioneering spirit fuels the Artemis missions working to establish a long-term lunar presence.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin 3:13 PM · May 5, 2026
Thirteen minutes--that is how long Alan Shepard spent above the Earth when he became the first American in space in 1961. A decade later, he walked on the Moon as Commander of Apollo 14 🇺🇸

https://twitter.com/NASAAdmin/status/2051651613362733514