American Manned Space Flight
The Capsules
American Manned Space Flight
The Capsules
I clearly remember sitting on the sidewalk by the ball diamond north of Lincoln Elementary school one winter day.While others played softball, hoping to emulate Mickey Mantle or Roger Maris, I had only one thing on my mind - a single man orbiting the Earth alone. I listened in amazement as John Glenn in Friendship 7 sped over one continent and ocean after another, never daring to dream that some sixteen years later I would be streaking solo through the sky, albeit lower and slower, in a spam can of similar size. I can say that for me, flight is still as fascinating as it was that brisk February day some four decades ago.
Length 9.5 feet Diameter 6.2 feet Mercury MR-3 Freedom 7 Sub-orbital Alan Shepard 5 May 1961 First American in space. First manual orientation of a manned spacecraft. Mercury MR-4 Liberty Bell 7 Sub-orbital Gus Grissom 21 July 1961 Mercury MA-6 Friendship 7 John Glenn 20 February 1962 0.21 days First American in orbit. Mercury MA-7 Aurora 7 Scott Carpenter 24 May 1962 0.21 days Mercury MA-8 Sigma 7 Wally Schirra 3 October 1962 0.38 days Speed record (17,560 mph). Mercury MA-9 Faith 7 Gordon Cooper 15 May 1963 1.43 days Orion  Diameter 16.5 feet Dragon  Length 20.4 feet |
Length 19 feet Diameter 7.5 feet Gemini 3 Molly Brown Gus Grissom, John Young 23 March 1965 0.20 days First spacecraft to maneuver in orbit. First flight of Gemini spacecraft. First time for an American to fly twice into space. Gemini 4 Jim McDivitt, Ed White 3 June 1965 4.08 days First American space walk. First American long-duration spaceflight. Gemini 5 Pete Conrad, Gordon Cooper 21 August 1965 7.96 days First American flight to seize duration record from Soviet Union. Gemini 6 Wally Schirra, Tom Stafford 15 December 1965 1.08 days First rendezvous of two spacecraft. Gemini 7 Frank Borman, Jim Lovell 4 December 1965 13.77 days Record flight duration to that date. Gemini 8 Neil Armstrong, Dave Scott 16 March 1966 0.45 days First docking of two spacecraft. First American emergency landing. Gemini 9 Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford 3 June 1966 3.01 days Gemini 10 Mike Collins, John Young 18 July 1966 2.95 days First free space walk from one spacecraft to another. First rendezvous with two different spacecraft in one flight. Altitude (474 miles) record. Gemini 11 Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon 12 September 1966 2.97 days Speed (17,902 mph) and altitude (853 miles) records. First docking with another spacecraft on first orbit after launch. First test of tethered spacecraft. Gemini 12 Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell 11 November 1966 3.94 days First completely successful space walk. |
Length 11.5 feet Diameter 12.8 feet Apollo 7 - Earth Orbit Walt Cunningham, Donn Eisele, Wally Schirra 11 October 1968 10.84 days First manned test of the Apollo spacecraft. Apollo 8 - Moon Orbit Bill Anders, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell 21 December 1968 6.13 days First manned flight to lunar orbit. Speed (24175 mph) and altitude (235,191 miles) records. Apollo 9 - Earth Orbit Gumdrop/Spider Jim McDivitt, Rusty Schweickart, Dave Scott March 1969 10.04 days First manned test of the Lunar Module. First test of the Apollo space suits. First manned flight of a spacecraft incapable of returning to earth. Apollo 10 - Moon Orbit Charlie Brown/Snoopy Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, John Young 18 May 1969 8.00 days Speed record (24,846 mph). Apollo 11 - Moon Landing Columbia/Eagle Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins 16 July 1969 8.14 days First manned lunar landing. Apollo 12 - Moon Landing Yankee Clipper/Intrepid Alan Bean, Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon 14 November 1969 10.19 days Apollo 13 - Aborted Moon Landing Odyssye/Aquarius Fred Haise, Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert 11 April 1970 5.95 days Altitude (249,205 miles) record. Apollo 14 - Moon Landing Kitty Hawk/Antares Edgar Mitchell, Stu Roosa, Alan Shepard 31 January 1971 9.00 days Only Mercury astronaut to reach moon. Apollo 15 - Moon Landing Endeavour/Falcon James Irwin, Dave Scott, Al Worden 26 July 1971 12.30 days First use of lunar rover on moon. Apollo 16 - Moon Landing Casper/Orion Charlie Duke, Ken Mattingly, John Young 16 April 1972 11.08 days Apollo 17 - Moon Landing America/Challenger Gene Cernan, Ron Evans, Jack Schmitt 7 December 1972 12.58 days First geologist to walk on the moon. Apollo-Skylab 2 - Earth Orbit Pete Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, Paul Weitz 25 May 1973 28.03 days Apollo-Skylab 3 - Earth Orbit Alan Bean, Joseph Garriott, Jack Lousma 28 July 1973 59.46 days Apollo-Skylab 4 - Earth Orbit Gerry Carr, Gibson Edward, Bill Pogue 16 November 1973 84.05 days Apollo-Soyuz - Earth Orbit Vance Brand, Deke Slayton, Tom Stafford 15 July 1975 9.06 days First docking of spacecraft from different countries. |
Each space flight listed on this page brings back poignant memories as I followed their every orbit, rendezvous, rocket burn, and splashdown. From the first eyewitness reports of a returning capsule under parachute canopies, to the afternoon I listened live to the words, "Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed," to the morning my Dad woke me up with news of a problem aboard Apollo 13 - space flight has been very personal to me. I feel truly blessed to have grown up in the most fascinating era in history. I guess my heros have always been space cowboys.
