![]() ![]() The Mercury capsule lacked a window through which Shepard could view his surroundings, but a periscope allowed him views of the outside during the pre-launch and weightless phases of the mission.ĭuring the flight, the spacecraft attained a maximum velocity of 8,200 km/hour and an altitude of 186.4 km. Re-entry and landing were accomplished without any difficulty. The attitude control system operated nominally, with few thruster fuel leaks. After separation, Shepard exercised manual control of the spacecraft in both the "fly-by-wire" and manual proportional modes. The Redstone booster performed well, although there were some vibrations. The objectives of MR-3 were to: (1) familiarize man with a brief but complete space flight experience, including the lift-off, powered flight, weightless flight (approximately 5 minutes), re-entry, and landing phases of the flight (2) evaluate man's ability to perform as a functional unit during space flight by demonstrating manual control of spacecraft attitude before, during, and after retrofire and by use of voice communications during flight (3) study man's physiological reactions during space flight and, (4) recover the astronaut and spacecraft. Shepard, Jr.), occurring twenty-three days after Yuri Gagarin's orbital flight of Vostok 1. Mercury Redstone 3 (MR-3, also designated Freedom 7) was the first flight of an American rocket with a human on board (Alan B. ![]()
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