On May 5, 1961, nearly a month after Yuri Gagarin’s orbit around the earth won the space race for the Soviet space program, American Alan Shepard makes his 15-minute suborbital journey on Freedom 7. The successful flight thrilled the U.S. and restored national confidence in the space program.
Shepard, suited up · Sat, May 6, 1961 – 4 · Elmira Advertiser (Elmira, New York) · Newspapers.com
Find more on Shepard’s historic flight and his other adventures in space with a search on Newspapers.com.