Mercury-Redstone 3, or Freedom 7, was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first manned flight of Project Mercury, the objective of which was to put an astronaut into orbit around the Earth and return him safely. Shepard's mission was a 15-minute suborbital flight with the primary objective of demonstrating his ability to withstand the high g-forces of launch and atmospheric re-entry. May 5, 1961 at 14:34 UTC · Launch Successful Redstone MRLV — National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to Suborbital Launch Complex 5, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA Crew: Alan Shepard Program: Mercury https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xd9kg-fJ9g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKf--ZY4qfA Data: Launch Library 2, The Space Devs. Mission patch: via The Space Devs.