May 1961
Videos
The following events occurred in May 1961:
May 5, 1961: Alan Shepard becomes first American in space
May 14, 1961: Freedom Riders attacked by angry mob near Anniston, Alabama
May 5, 1961: Launch of Freedom 7
May 8, 1961: Shepard receives NASA Distinguished Service Medal
June 1961
Videos
The following events occurred in June 1961:
May 1961
…during practice. Space Task Group (STG) issued a Statement of Work for a Design Study of a Manned Spacecraft Paraglide Landing System. Before the end of June, the design study would formally become Phase I of the Paraglider Development Program. At the Torre Bert listening station, the Judica-Cordiglia brothers…
June 23, 1961: USAF Major Robert M. White becomes first pilot to fly a plane "a mile per second" (3,600 mph)
June 3, 1961: Soviet Premier Khrushchev and U.S. President Kennedy meet in Vienna
A "rocket belt" demonstration
The President's convertible