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NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Launch of Freedom 7, the first spacecraft carrying an American into space

Mercury Redstone 3, May 5, 1961, 000:00:02 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption (indicating the print was made in 1962-1963) and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA S-61-1928” in red in top margin

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Taken by a 70mm Maurer Earth Sky automatic camera mounted on the Freedom 7 spacecraft

Earth horizon and black sky of space seen by the first American in space

Mercury Redstone 3, May 5, 1961

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), numbered “2” in top right margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

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Chaikin, Space, p. 40 (variant); National Geographic, September 1961, p. 425 (variant).

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Lot Essay

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500,000 people gathered in 1961 near Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 5 to watch a Redstone rocket lift astronaut Alan Shepard in his Mercury capsule, Freedom 7, into space. After hours of delay, Shepard became the first American in space. His 15-minute suborbital hop took him to a height of 116 miles at more than 2 km (1.5 miles) per second before splashdown near Bermuda, 302 miles downrange from Cape Canaveral.

Capcom (Mission Control): Liftoff.
000:00:02.3 Shepard: Ahh, Roger; lift-off and the clock is started.
000:00:08.3 Shepard; Yes sir, reading you loud and clear.
000:00:25.5 Shepard: This is Freedom Seven. The fuel is go, 1.2 g, cabin at 14 psi, oxygen is go.

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On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. had a view of Earth that no American had seen before, looking down on the Home Planet from the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule on his history-making suborbital flight.

The original film from the automatic Maurer 220G camera equipped with a 75mm lens was in color (GAF Super Anscochrome T-100 Superior ASA 64 color reversal).

This photograph shows “Mercury Redstone 3 (MR-3) spaceflight Earth observations of a cloudy Earth surface. There is a gleam from the light reflected off the capsule window in the lower right side of the frame” (original NASA caption for the photograph).

“The particular camera orientation during my flight happened to include many clouds. [...] There appears to be a haze layer at the horizon. This haze is a function not only of particles of dust, moisture, and so forth, but also of light refraction through atmospheric layers. The sky itself is a very deep blue, almost black, because of the absolute lack of light-reflecting particles. We are encouraged that the periscope provides a good viewing device as well as a backup attitude-control indicator and navigation aid,” related Alan Shepard (Pilot’s Flight Report).