The craft on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
| Length | 6.8 m. (22 ft., 2 in.) |
| Span | 2.9 m. (9 ft., 7 in.) |
| Height | 2.5 m. (8 ft., 10 in.) |
| Weight | 2720 kg. (6000 lb.) empty; 4540 kg. (10,000 lb.) fueled |
| Speed | 1718 km. per hr. (1066 m. per hr.) max. achieved |
| Altitude | 21,800 m. (71,500 ft.) max. achieved |
| Mach number | 1.5 max. achieved |
Freedom 7
82. Marine helicopter hovers over Freedom 7 after the spacecraft carried the first American into space. Astronaut Shepard dangles in body harness as he is hoisted to helicopter.
On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., became the first American in space. He flew this Mercury spacecraft, Freedom 7, through a 15-minute, 22-second sub-orbital, or ballistic, space flight.
A Redstone booster, burning liquid oxygen and hydrazine-base fuel, lifted Freedom 7 from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The vehicle’s single engine developed 35,380 kilograms (78,000 pounds) of thrust.
The structure of the Mercury is titanium, covered with steel and beryllium shingles. The heat shield at the base of the spacecraft is of beryllium.
The heat shield served as a “heat sink” by storing the heat created by the spacecraft’s reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft reached the ocean before the heat could penetrate the interior of the craft. (Later flights used ablative heat shields, which protected the spacecraft by vaporizing and burning away during reentry.)