43. [Mercury Redstone 4] COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH: Capcom Astronauts John Glenn and Alan Shepard at Mission Control for the Second U.S. Space Mission NASA, 21 July 1961 Printed 1961. Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image 61-MR4-84]. With NASA caption numbered "61-MR4-84" on the reverse (issued by NASA Cape Canaveral, Florida). 20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.) Historical context The photograph captures the intense activity at Mission Control, alongside the camaraderie and shared confidence of the pioneering astronauts, during humanity's first space missions. [NASA caption] EVERYTHING A-OKAY!! - Project Mercury Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, grins approval as Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's second man-in-space calmly announces that MR-4 spacecraft and pilot are ready for launch. Astronaut John H. Glenn, intently watches television monitor from over Shepard's shoulder during final minutes of countdown July 21. Although spacecraft sank on landing, flight was considered successful and pilot was A-Okay.