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On the morning of May 5th, 1961 the primary
goal of Project Mercury came sharply into

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focus

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to evaluate the performance of a manned spacecraft
system and evaluate the effects of space flight

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on the astronaut Alan B. Shepard traveled
the 59 feet up the gantry.

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The hatch was secured.

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For those who watched and waited, an even
more basic objective was recognized our nation

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was about to meet the challenge of manned
space flight.

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The launch vehicle and the spacecraft named
Freedom 7 were go.

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The launch pad crews and downrange recovery
forces were go.

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Liftoff, and the clock
has started!

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This is Freedom 7

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Pressure is holding at 5.5

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The Mercury Redstone 3 flight with astronaut
Alan Shepard at the controls traveled 300

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miles, reached an altitude of 115 miles and
experienced about five minutes of Zero G

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Astronaut Shepard in Mercury spacecraft Freedom
7 began his long plunge back to Earth

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the first American to achieve spaceflight
was successfully recovered from Mercury spacecraft

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Freedom 7