Three weeks after the USSR launched the first man into space what craft did the USA launch, with its first manned space flight?
NASA Navy, Air Force and Marine test pilot programs. On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space aboard "Freedom 7", launched by a Redstone booster on a 15-minute ballistic (suborbital) flight. John Glenn became the first American to be launched into orbit, by an Atlas launch vehicle on February 20, 1962, aboard "Friendship 7". Glenn completed three orbits, after which three more orbital flights were made, culminating in L. Gordon Cooper's 22-orbit flight "Faith 7", May 15–16, 1963. The Soviet Union (USSR) competed with its own single-pilot spacecraft, Vostok. They sent the first man in space,
First Man into Space mansion near Hampstead Heath near London, because of the location's similarity to New York's Central Park; some exterior shots were done in Hampstead itself, while additional filming was done at other British locations. The aircraft seen in "First Man into Space" included stock footage of the takeoff and launch of the Bell X-1A from a Boeing B-29 Superfortress mother ship. A Redstone rocket launch was also featured. Edwards, who played pilot Dan Prescott and the space monster, needed his dialogue synched in post-production because of the actor's difficulty with maintaining an American accent during shooting. The costume that Edwards wore