NASA launched a chimpanzee named Ham into space on a suborbital flight as part of Project Mercury in January 1961, successfully recovering him in the Atlantic Ocean. This flight paved the way for Alan Shepard to become the first American in space aboard Freedom 7, launching on a 15-minute suborbital flight on May 5, 1961. Wernher Von Braun directed Project Mercury from March 1961 to May 1963 with the goal of putting Americans into space and returning them safely to Earth.