Page 34 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

Mercury
The American initiative was named Mercury. The first flight in the series was not an orbital flight but a simple arching path, or trajectory. It was performed on May 5, 1961, about 3 weeks after the Vostok launch.
Alan B. Shepard, Jr., was the first person to fly under the Mercury program, housed in a 1,400 kg Mercury space capsule called Freedom 7. It was powered by a Redstone rocket. The nearly 500-km journey lasted just 15 minutes.
 Astronaut John Glenn entering the Mercury 6 mission capsule, Friendship 7, and about to begin the first American manned Earth orbital mission.
capsule A small pressurized space vehicle.
trajectory The curved path followed by a projectile.
 Alan Shepard inside the Mercury 3 mission capsule, Freedom 7.
34