HUS-1 (UH-34D) MR-3 Recovery, May 5 1961
SN 148767 HMM-262

Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3), designated the Freedom 7, the first Mercury manned suborbital flight, was launched from Cape Canaveral, with astronaut Alan Shepard as the pilot on May 5, 1961. The Redstone booster performed well during the boosted phase, although there were some vibrations, and cutoff was well within specified limits. After separation, Shepard exercised manual control of the spacecraft in the fly-by-wire and manual proportional modes. The attitude control system operated well, with few thruster fuel leaks. Reentry and landing were accomplished without any difficulty. During the flight, the spacecraft attained a maximum speed of 5,180 miles per hour, rose to an altitude of 116.5 statute miles, and landed 302 statute miles downrange from Cape Canaveral. The pilot experienced a maximum of 6 g's during the booster acceleration phase and slightly less than 12 g's upon reentry. The duration of the flight was 15 minutes and 22 seconds, with weightlessness existing for approximately 5 minutes.

Recovery operations were perfect, as helicopters were able visually to follow the descent of the spacecraft. Contact was made with the pilot two minutes after impact and recovery was initiated. A Marine helicopter picked up Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard and his Freedom 7 capsule in the Atlantic Ocean after his first American sub-orbital flight on May 5, 1961. Engineers said the spacecraft was in such great shape it could be reused. Doctors said Shepard could be used again too. Only 11 minutes after landing, he was onboard the U.S. Navy carrier Lake Champlain, where he took a congratulatory phone call from President Kennedy.

In 1952, the U.S. Navy ordered an advanced anti-submarine helicopter from Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky designated the new helicopter the S-58, and the Navy called it the HSS-1 Seabat, or just "Hiss." The S-58 proved capable and reliable, so the Army and Marines purchased troop-carrier versions, the Army ordering them as H-34 Choctaws in 1953, and the Marines buying HUS Seahorses in 1954. It was redesignated UH-34D in 1962.