OTD…May 7 and STS-49

#OTD in 1991…The launch of Columbia on Spacelab Life Sciences 1 mission

#OTD in 1997…Columbia launched on the reflight of her shortened Microgravity Science Laboratory mission

The U.S. launched its first man into space on this date, May 5, 1961, as Alan Shepard rode the Freedom 7 capsule on a 15-minute suborbital flight to 116.5 miles in altitude and 303 miles downrange to splashdown.