Mercury MR-3A
Mission
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Credit: Manufacturer Image
Planned manned Mercury flight that would have put an American in space before the Russians. But after booster problems on Mercury MR-2, von Braun insisted on a further unmanned booster test. This proved to be unnecessary. If NASA had overruled Von Braun, Shepard would have been the first man in space, beating Gagarin's flight by three weeks.
After booster problems on the Mercury MR-2 chimp test flight, Von Braun insisted on a further unmanned booster test flight, against the wishes of Shepard and others at NASA. A Mercury boilerplate capsule was launched on a flawless test on 24 March. If NASA had overruled Von Braun, the manned Freedom 7 capsule would have flown instead. Shepard would have been the first man in space (though not in orbit), beating Gagarin's flight by three weeks.
Related
- Spacecraft
- Mercury
Chronology
1 event
1961 March 24
- Mercury MR-3A (cancelled) - .
Call Sign: Freedom 7. Crew: Shepard.
Backup Crew: Grissom.
Payload: Mercury SC7. Nation: USA.
Related Persons: von Braun.
Flight: Mercury MR-3A.
Spacecraft: Mercury.
After booster problems on the Mercury MR-2 chimp test flight, Von Braun insisted on a further unmanned booster test flight, against the wishes of Shepard and others at NASA. A Mercury boilerplate capsule was launched on a flawless test on 24 March. If NASA had overruled Von Braun, the manned Freedom 7 capsule would have flown instead. Shepard would have been the first man in space (though not in orbit), beating Gagarin's flight by three weeks.