“What a beautiful view.” Alan Shepard became the first American in space 60 years ago today (May 5, 1961) when Freedom 7 lifted off atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket. The 15-minute flight gave us valuable data on how humans respond to microgravity, and set us on a path toward having a continuous human presence in space with the construction of the International Space Station decades later: youtu.be/YMptAi6Z8io | NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

3.8K views · 314 reactions | "What a beautiful view." 61 years ago #OTD, Alan Shepard was celebrated across the nation after launching in the Mercury capsule Freedom 7 to become the first American in space. Take a tour of our Mercury-Redstone 3 Flickr photo gallery with images from this historic day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons/albums/72157654005287426 | NASA History | Facebook