US Launches A Man In Space, 1961
Three weeks after the Russians put a man in orbit, the United States attempts to launch a man into space.
Unlike the secrecy that surrounded the Soviet achievement, the U.S. endeavour is broadcast to the world. Hundreds of newsmen look on as the countdown begins at Cape Canaveral, and at 10.34 a huge rocket sends 37-year-old Commander Alan B. Shepard aloft in a Mercury capsule. It is a successful launch. Commander Shepard reports to ground control that everything is "A-OK".
