National Air and Space Museum Archives

Mercury MR-3 Flight Freedom 7 Checklist Cue Cards

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.XXXX.0898
Creators:
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Dates:
March 1, 1961
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.05 Cubic feet
1 folder
Repository:
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space in the Mercury MR-3 capsule. This collection consists of two double-sided checklist cue cards for use on the Mercury MR-3 Flight in
Freedom 7
including checklists for normal procedures as well as emergency procedure checklists for various situations.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of two double-sided checklist cue cards for use on the Mercury MR-3 Flight in
Freedom 7
including checklists for normal procedures including entrance, countdown, separation, capsule stabilization, retrograde, re-entry, and landing; as well as emergency procedure checklists for situations including abort, tower fails to jettison, capsule fails to separate, failure of ASCS automatic mode, failure of fly-by-wire mode, attitude gyro slaving failure, cabin depressurization, cabin re-pressurization, excessive CO2 partial pressure, emergency oxygen, alternate suit fan, main battery failure, standby battery failure, isolated battery failure, complete electrical failure, communications system failure, fire or fumes, periscope failure, failure to start retro sequence, failure to attain retro attitude, retro rockets fail to fire, failure to maintain retro attitude, retro package fails to jettison, ASCS cannot maintain re-entry attitude, .05G switch failure, drogue chute failure, antenna fairing fails to jettison, main chute failure, reserve chute failure, and landing bag fails to deploy.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Collection is in original order.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space in the Mercury MR-3 capsule. He named it
Freedom 7
, the number signifying the seven Mercury astronauts; NASA called the mission Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3). Lofted by a Redstone rocket, Shepard and his capsule attained a maximum speed of 5180 mph and rose to an altitude of 116 miles. The sub-orbital flight lasted 15 minutes and 22 seconds.
Freedom 7
parachuted into the sea 302 miles from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and was retrieved by helicopter, along with Shepard. NASA gave
Freedom 7
to the Smithsonian in 1962, the first manned spacecraft accessioned into the National Collection. It is also the only Mercury capsule of the original type flown by an astronaut.

Administration

Author
Jessamyn Lloyd
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donor unknown, material found in collection, NASM.XXXX.0898
Processing Information
Arranged and described (2009) and encoded (2022) by Jessamyn Lloyd.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Preferred Citation
Mercury MR-3 Flight Freedom 7 Checklist Cue Cards, NASM.XXXX.0898, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Astronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Space flight Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mercury MR-3 Flight Freedom 7 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Checklists Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu