On the morning of May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard climbed into a tiny capsule called Freedom 7, perched on top of a Redstone rocket at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Millions of Americans watched on television as the countdown reached zero. At 9:34 a.m., the rocket fired and Shepard was pushed upward at tremendous speed. The flight lasted just fifteen minutes and twenty-two seconds. Shepard did not orbit Earth -- his capsule followed a curving path up to an altitude of 116 miles, then arced back down. He could see the coast of the United States from his window. The flight was suborbital, meaning the capsule went into space but did not circle the planet. The landing was dramatic. Freedom 7's parachutes opened, and the capsule splashed into the Atlantic Ocean, where a helicopter plucked Shepard from the water. He was safe and healthy. The mission made Shepard a national hero. Just three weeks earlier, the Soviet Union had sent cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit around Earth. America was in a space race, and Shepard's flight showed it could compete. President Kennedy used the momentum to announce the goal of landing on the Moon before the end of the decade.