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Mercury Capsule 15B
Freedom 7 II
This Mercury capsule is the only one left showing the complete spacecraft in its orbital configuration. It includes the silver and black retrorocket package used to slow the capsule for return to Earth, and the nose section containing the parachutes.
Alan B Shepard Jr, the first American in space, hoped to fly this Mercury capsule on a long-duration orbital mission in late 1963 called Mercury-Atlas 10 (MA-10). After the success of MA-9, flown by astronaut Gordon Cooper in May 1963, NASA cancelled MA-10 to concentrate on its next human spaceflight project, Gemini. Reflecting Shepard's hope of flying in space again, he had the name Freedom 7 II painted on the aircraft in tribute to his historic 1961 capsule, Freedom 7. |