Alan Shepard, the first American in space, in his capsule jt before lift-off, apanied by a view of the lift off of Mercury-Redstone 3 rocketMercury-Redstone 3, 5 May 1961Two vintage gelatin silver prints on fibre-based paper, 20.5 x 25.3 cm (8 x 10 in), with NASA HQ captions on the verso Provenance: from Tim Furniss collectionFootnotes:Alan Shepard lies in the tiny cabin of his Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 on the morning of May 5, 1961, as technicians prepare to install the craft's side hatch. After hours of delay, Shepard lifted off on top of a Redstone booster to be the first American in space (Illtrated: Chaikin, Space, p. 41)