On this day in 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American astronaut to rocket into space on the Mercury-Redstone (MR-3), Freedom 7. The Mercury-Redstone was built and tested at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The photo here shows people gathered around Huntsville’s courthouse to celebrate the landmark spaceflight. The launch vehicle was based on the Redstone rocket developed by the Army and famous for launching the first American satellite, Explorer I, into orbit in 1958. The suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere. Image credit: NASA #onthisday #history #astronauts #space #exploration #launch nasa_marshall #nasa #blackandwhite #photography #redstone #anniversary