Freedom 7 50 years ago

On this date, fifty years ago, Alan B. Shepard was launched in Freedom 7 for the first US flight into space. It was a 15 minute sub-orbital flight using the first version of the Mercury Capsule and a Redstone Rocket. The only glitch on the flight was the confirmation light for the automatic jettison of the retro-rockets didn't come until Shepard pressed the button manually.