Everything you never knew you wanted to know about the Mercury Project
Spacecraft 7
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Contents |
Mission
Spacecraft 7 christened Freedom 7 by Alan Shepard flew on the MR-3 mission.
Flight Order
The previous production capsule flown was spacecraft 14A. The next production capsule to fly was spacecraft 11.
Disposition
Displayed at the United States Naval Academy College of Medicine, Annapolis, MD
[http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldguide/pages/mercury/mr-3.html
Entry in Jim Gerard's AFGAS]
Details
Interior Details
Instrument Panel
 Fig SC7-IP1 Instrument Panel of SC 7 |
 Fig SC7-IP2 Left Console |
 Fig SC7-IP3 Right Console |
Figure SC7-IP1 is the diagram of the instrument panel from SEDR-109-7 Flight Operations Manual. Fig SC7-IP2 shows the left console, and Fig SC7-IP3 shows the right console.
Cabin Details
 Photo SC7-1 Interior View of Spacecraft 7 |
 Photo SC7-2 Shepard in Freedom 7 pre-launch |
Photo SC7-1 gives a clear view of the interior of the spacecraft. This is a fascinating view showing the details of the early spacecraft design. Note that the instrument panel shape is quite different from that in the later manned capsules.
Exterior Details
 Photo SC7-3 Shepard "pre-flights" Freedom 7 |
 Photo SC7-4 Shepard approaches for insertion |
 Photo SC-7-5 Shepards legs |
 Photo SC7-6 On the U.S.S. Champlain |
Photo SC7-3 shows some details of the area between the entrance hatch and the left porthole. This is the area which contains the main window on the later manned Mercury spacecraft.
SC-7-4 shows a view of the left porthole area and the spacecraft name.
SC-7-5 shows some details around the main hatch.
SC7-6 is a post recovery photo of spacecraft 7.
Spacecraft 7 Gallery
 Spacecraft 7 atop Redstone |
 Spacecraft 7 on Display at Paris Airshow in Late May, Early June of 1961 |
Chronology
- 16 August 1960
- At the design engineering inspection of spacecraft 7, a number of requests for changes in the control panel area were made by the astronauts to facilitate pilot operation. Later, meeting procedures for design engineering inspections were standardized and conducted by a permanent team at appropriate intervals.
- 13 November 1960
- System checkout tests were completed on spacecraft 7. In the opinion of McDonnell, the results demonstrated that this spacecraft was adequate for a manned mission.
- 9 December 1960
- Spacecraft 7 delivered to Cape Canaveral.
- 1 February 1961
- The February 1961 Edition of SEDR-104 is published presumably containing spacecraft 7.
- 1 February 1961
- Instruction was provided to the astronauts to develop techniques and procedures for using the personal parachute as an additional safety feature in the Mercury program. This parachute was only used during the MR-3 mission
- 17 February 1961
- The Space Task Group requested that McDonnell design and install a manual bilge pump in spacecraft 7 to allow the removal of any seawater resulting from leakage after spacecraft impact.
- 5 May 1961
- MR-3 Launched.
- 26 May 1961
- Freedom 7 displayed at Paris Air Show.
- 13 June 1961
- Freedom 7 exhibited in Rome
- 1 August 1961
- The August 1961 Edition of SEDR-104 is published presumably containing spacecraft 7.
- 23 October 1961
- Freedom 7 presented to the Smithsonian
