Al Shepard had a capsule, a name for it, and a goal — at least three days in space in 1963.

*****

“This is Freedom 7-II.  Tried my ASCS again.  It’s definitely failed.  OK, am switching to fly-by-wire.”   With his automatic control system dead, Alan Shepard keeps the capsule on the button with the manual system, no problem.  In range of the Pacific ocean tracking ship, nearing the end of his 39th orbit, he maintains to the ground that he is go all the way.  His MA-10 mission, approaching its 60th hour of flight, has already shattered Gordo Cooper’s U.S. record duration of 34 hrs. on MA-9.  Shepard, on an open-ended mission to stretch the Mercury to it’s fullest wants to fly at least 72 hrs.  However, despite fixes, the condensation problem that struck Cooper, when moisture from a faulty water separator that corroded electronic connections and caused cascading electrical failures, has struck again.

Word is passed from Mercury Control at the Cape:  Prepare for retrofire on the next orbit, ending the flight after 62 hrs.  Al Shepard doesn’t like it, but there it is.  “This is Freedom 7-II, I understand, am starting cabin stowage.”

*

There exists a real Freedom 7-II, the name painted on Capsule 15B, the backup spacecraft for Cooper’s flight, one of four capsules built for one-day Mercury flights.  Shepard had it painted there, lobbying for one more Mercury flight.

Yet even before Cooper flew, officials at NASA Headquarters up to Administrator James E. Webb, were indicating that MA-9 would be the last Mercury.  Naturally, people in the program — especially Al Shepard — argued for one more flight.  Indeed, Shepard pushed hard during the Washington celebrations for Cooper, breaking chain of command and speaking to Webb.  And then with Webb’s knowledge, going over him to bring the subject up to President Kennedy during a White House reception for the astronauts.

Yet Kennedy left the decision to Webb.   On June 7-8, 1963, Webb met in Washington with Mercury’s managers to decide the fate of the project.  

Points in favor of another flight:  The capsule and Atlas booster were built and on hand, ready to go.   The schedule for the follow-on Project Gemini, a series of two-man flights, was slipping, the first flight not targeted before late 1964.  A Mercury flight would help fill the gap, keep the team sharp.  And provide information of living an extended time in space.

Points against:   NASA’s resources were not infinite, should now be focused on Gemini, a program vital to the moon effort.  Mercury had done it’s job, with little to be gained by an additional flight.  It’s time to move on.

On June 12, 1963, Webb tells the Senate Space Committee, “We will not have another Mercury flight.”  

*

Mercury hopes dashed, Al Shepard was designated to command the first Gemini, with Tom Stafford as his pilot.  He and Stafford began preliminary training, but in late 1963, Shepard began experiencing bouts of dizziness.  He hoped they’d disappear as mysterious as they came.  They did not, and he was diagnosed with an inner-ear disorder called Meniere’s Syndrome.  Grounded, he would not fly Gemini and entered a limbo shared with fellow grounded Mercury astronaut, Deke Slayton, serving as Slayton’s assistant in the astronaut office.  Gus Grissom and John Young took over the first Gemini mission.