Project Mercury on May 5, 1961, Alan B Shepard became the first American to orbit outer space. The entire 800’ of this film, is a record of the flight as seen by a camera inside his space capsule. At various times one can see parts of Shepard’s flight suit, floating aimlessly as he enters a weightless or zero ground environment. Shepard did not orbit the earth, his flight covering only 320 miles. Following is a few statistics of the flight. Distance of flight: 320 miles, Cape Canaveral to spot 320 miles off in Atlantic. Height attained: 116 ½ miles at maximum height of arc. Type of vehicle: one ton, Mercury capsule christened The Freedom 7. Maximum speed: 4375 miles per hour during down range flight.