(3 of 9)
Redstone Ready. The lonely wait ahead of him was as familiar as the suiting-up process. Just three days before, Shepard had struggled into his pressure suit and suffered its discomfort for nearly four hours before the shot was canceled because of weather. Now the whole tedious preflight procedure had been repeated. Step by step the Redstone had been readied for launch. The capsule's innards had been checked and rechecked (Fellow Astronaut John Glenn had spent the previous two hours in a minute inspection) before a warning horn sent mournful blasts across the palmetto flats. The Redstone was ready.
Still there were more delays. Weather reports were coming in from the length of the Southeastern seaboard, and the possibility of cloud cover had to be calculated over and over. Minor mechanical troubles had to be repaired. As the countdown was held and resumed, doctors talked to Shepard and pronounced him the calmest man on the Cape. At T minus 2 minutes (2 minutes before launch), as the sun climbed the eastern sky, the "cherry picker" (a jointed crane capable of plucking the astronaut out of his capsule in case of a prelaunch disaster) backed away. At T minus 30 seconds the "umbilical cord" of tubing and cables that had been supplying electricity, communication and liquid oxygen fell free. At 9:34 a.m. the last second ticked off; the rocket's liquid-fueled engines flared flame, and the flight began.
What a Ride. Strapped firmly on his couch, Shepard could hear the rocket's roar, could feel its wild vibration, its immense thrust as he was boosted into the air. Everything went exactly according to expectations. In the operations room at the Mercury control blockhouse, doctors crouched over telemetering equipment that recorded the astronaut's pulse, temperature, respiration. Range officers watched as moving lights on the electronic status board traced the rocket's path, predicted the capsule's point of impact. Another astronaut manned the communications console and began the running fire of reports.
Voice from ground: Firing command, 30, mark.
Shepard: Roger. Periscope has retracted.
Voice: 15, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero. Liftoff.
Shepard: Roger, liftoff, and the clock is started.
As the rocket climbed, Shepard calmly reported the growing Gs of acceleration and the state of the capsule's pressure and oxygen supply. The Gs rose to four, then five, but his voice showed no sign of stress.
Shepard: Cap sep is coming out, and the turn-around has started. (This means that the capsule had freed itself and was ready to maneuver.)
Voice: Roger.
Shepard: O.K. Switching to manual pitch.
Voice: Manual pitch.
Shepard: Pitch is O.K. Switching to manual yaw.
Shepard was testing the capsule's maneuvering system, which can control changes of pitch, yaw or roll by emitting spurts of gas. Every movement was completed with ease.
Shepard: On the periscope. What a beautiful sight!
Voice: I'll bet it is.
Shepard: Cloud cover over Florida. Three-to four-tenths on the Eastern Coast, obscured up through Hatteras. Can see [Lake] Okeechobee, identified Andros Island [one of the Bahamas].