A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the vehicle reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not co
Science and Mechanics cover of November 1931, showing a proposed sub-orbital spaceship that would reach an altitude 700 miles (1,100 km) on its one-hour trip from Berlin to New York.
The X-15 (1958–1968) was launched to an altitude of 13.7 km by a B-52 mothership, lifted itself to approximately 100 km, and then glided to the ground.
Mercury-Redstone 3, or Freedom 7, was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first crewed flight of Project Mercury. The project had t
Sub-orbital spaceflight
…Video of sub-orbital spaceflight of Black Brant IX sounding rocket Sub-orbital human spaceflight (FAI-defined space border) Name Year Flights Location Mercury-Redstone 3 Mercury-Redstone 4 1961 2 Cape Canaveral X-15 Flight 90 X-15 Flight 91 1963 2 Edwards AFB Soyuz 18a 1975 1 Baikonur Cosmodrome SpaceShipOne Flight 15P…
Still frame of Alan Shepard taken by a motion picture camera aboard Freedom 7 during splashdown
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr.Project Mercury Crewed missions← Mercury-Redstone BDMercury-Redstone 4 →
Launch of MR-3 on May 5, 1961
Alan Shepard in Freedom 7 spacecraft before launch