“What a beautiful view.” Alan Shepard became the first American in space 60 years ago today (May 5, 1961) when Freedom 7 lifted off atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket. The 15-minute flight gave us valuable data on how humans respond to microgravity, and set us on a path toward having a continuous human presence in space with the construction of the International Space Station decades later: youtu.be/YMptAi6Z8io | NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration