USNA News Article

Last Chance to See NASA Space Capsule at Naval Academy

Feb 09, 2012

From Naval Academy Public Affairs

NASA spacecraft Freedom 7 will be leaving the Naval Academy at the end of February, bound for the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Columbia Point, Boston, Mass.

The space capsule first arrived at the Naval Academy Dec. 15, 1998. Since then, it has been on display to the public in the Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center. The Visitor Center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the end of February.

Astronaut Rear Adm. Alan Shepard, a Naval Academy graduate of the Class of 1945, piloted a 15-minute suborbital flight of the Freedom 7 spacecraft on May 5, 1961, to become the first American in space. The flight was part of Mercury-Redstone 3, the first manned space mission of the U.S.

The Naval Academy has produced 52 astronauts - more than any other college or university in the nation. For details, please see www.usna.edu/Admissions/Notables/Astronauts/index.htm.

For more information about the Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center, go to www.usna.edu/NAFPRODV/VC/.