posted 05-05-2021 10:03 AM               

Sixty years ago, on May 5, 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. launched on the Freedom 7 mission, powered by a Mercury-Redstone rocket to become the first American in space. Shepard's flight lasted 15 minutes, 28 seconds.

posted 05-05-2021 10:04 AM               

Please join the NASA History Office on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 for two events in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 flight!

At 11 a.m. EDT, we will be presenting a panel discussion about the past 60 years of human spaceflight with Bill Barry, Teasel Muir-Harmony, Margaret Weitekamp and Kathy Lueders with recorded remarks from Jeanette Epps.

Then at noon, we will be hosting a Reddit AMA (ask me anything) on r/history with historians from NASA and the Air and Space Museum. We will be answering the public's questions about the history of human spaceflight!