<P> 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 . </P>
<P> 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 . </P>
who is the astronaut onboard of freedom 7
who is the astronaut onboard of freedom 7
Alan Shepard
Alan Shepard