In May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, a short suborbital mission that proved humans could survive launch, weightlessness, and reentry. Behind the calm headlines was Project ...
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to travel to space. Born in 1923, Shepard was a decorated pilot with the United States Navy before he was recruited to become one of the Mercury ...
Those were the words Alan Shepard used 60 years ago Wednesday to note his cockpit timepiece had begun running. This meant his Redstone rocket booster had left the ground sending him and his one-man ...
In May 1961, Alan Shepard climbed into Freedom 7 for a mission that lasted just 15 minutes, but reshaped NASA’s future overnight. This is the tense story of Project Mercury’s first crewed launch, and ...