#TBT Scooping up an astronaut 🧑‍🚀 ⁣ ⁣ In this image from May 5, 1961, a Marine helicopter picks up Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard and his Freedom 7 capsule in the Atlantic Ocean after the first American sub-orbital flight. Only 11 minutes after landing, he was onboard the U.S. Navy carrier Lake Champlain, where he took a congratulatory phone call from President John F. Kennedy.⁣ ⁣ Engineers said the spacecraft was in such great shape it could be reused. (Doctors said Shepard could be used again too.)⁣ ⁣ The main scientific objective of Project Mercury was to determine humanity’s capabilities in a space environment. The pioneering legacy of Project Mercury and all those who worked on it led to the Apollo Moon landings in the late 60s and early 70s.⁣ ⁣ Image description: A Marine helicopter flies above a dark-colored capsule that is floating in the Atlantic Ocean. The blades of the helicopter are creating ripples in the water around the capsule. The water is a dark cerulean blue an...