Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) (Rear Admiral, USN, Ret.) was the first U.S. astronaut in space, though his first flight was only sub-orbital. November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years), with 43 remaining. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The term Rear Admiral originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons, and can trace its origins to the British Royal Navy. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government Official website of the United States government - Gateway to governmental sites White House - Official site of the US President Senate. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ... A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ...

Astronaut Profile
Selection date:	1959
Retirement date:	1974
Space Duration:	9:00:57
Missions
Mercury 3, Apollo 14

He attended the East Derry primary and secondary schools in his birthplace of Derry, New Hampshire; received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1944, an Honorary Master of Arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1962, and Honorary Doctorate of Science from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1971, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Franklin Pierce College in 1972. Graduated United States Naval Test Pilot School in 1951; Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island in 1957. Alan B. Shepard (NASA) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Crew Alan Shepard Backup Crew John Glenn Mission parameters Mass: 1,295 kg (apogee) Maximum Altitude: 187. ... Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program and the third mission to land on the moon. ... Derry is a town located in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. ... Teamwork: Fourth Class Midshipmen lock arms and use ropes made from uniform items as they brace themselves climbing the Herndon Monument The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. ... City nickname: Americas Sailing Capital Location in the state of Maryland Founded 1649 Mayor Ellen O. Moyer (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 19. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... For other uses of the name Dartmouth, see Dartmouth Dartmouth College is a private university in Hanover, New Hampshire, and a member of the Ivy League. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Miami University, founded in 1809, is the second oldest college west of the Allegheny mountains. ... Oxford is a city located in southwestern Ohio in northwestern Butler County in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Franklin Pierce College is a four-year liberal-arts college in rural Rindge, New Hampshire, founded in 1962 and named after Franklin Pierce, the New Hampshire-born 14th President of the United States. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Logo of the Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC) of the United States Navy is an education and research institution that specializes in developing ideas for naval strategy and passing them along to officers of the Navy. ... A side street in Newport, Rhode Island, showing the historic buildings near the waterfront Newport is a city located in Newport County, Rhode Island. ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

His religious background was in Christian Science. The Church of Christ, Scientist, often known as The Christian Science Church, is a nontrinitarian Protestant Christian denomination, founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879. ...

Naval Career

Shepard began his naval career after graduation from Annapolis on the destroyer Cogswell, deployed in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. He subsequently entered flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas and Pensacola, Florida, and received his wings in 1947. His next assignment was with Fighter Squadron 42 at Norfolk, Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida. He served several tours aboard aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean while with this squadron. The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air. ... Corpus Christi is a coastal city located in Texas. ... This article is about the inland city of Pensacola, Florida. ... Norfolk, Virginia, viewed from Portsmouth, across the Elizabeth River Norfolk is a city in the U.S. state of Virginia in the United States of America. ... The Jacksonville skyline and the Acosta Bridge. ... An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ...

In 1950, he attended the United States Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland. After graduation, he participated in flight test work which included high-altitude tests to obtain data on light at different altitudes and on a variety of air masses over the American continent; and test and development experiments of the Navy's in-flight refueling system, carrier suitability trails of the F2H-3 Banshee, and Navy trials of the first angled carrier deck. He was subsequently assigned to Fighter Squadron 193 at Moffett Field, California, a night fighter unit flying Banshee jets. As operations officer of this squadron, he made two tours to the Western pacific on board the carrier USS Oriskany. The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. ... The McDonnell F2H Banshee was a military carrier-based jet fighter aircraft, used by the US Navy from 1951 to 1959 and by the Royal Canadian Navy from 1955 until 1962. ... USS Oriskany (CV-34) (also CVA-34) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier. ...

He returned to Patuxent for a second tour of duty and engaged in flight testing the F3H Demon, F8U Crusader, F4D Skyray, and F11F Tigercat. He was also project test pilot on the F5D Skylancer, and his last five months at Patuxent were spent as an instructor in the Test Pilot School. He later attended the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, and upon graduating in 1957 was subsequently assigned to the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, as aircraft readiness officer. The McDonnell F3H Demon was a US Navy carrier-based jet fighter aircraft. ... F-8C digital fly-by-wire testbed (NASA) Two F-8 Crusaders Prepare to Launch from the USS Midway (CV-41). ... The Douglas F4D Skyray was a carrier-based fighter built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. ... The Douglas F5D Skylancer was a development of the F4D Skyray for the United States Navy. ...

He logged more than 8,000 hours flying time—3,700 hours in jet aircraft.

Shepard aboard Freedom 7

NASA photo of Alan Shepard aboard Freedom 7. ... NASA photo of Alan Shepard aboard Freedom 7. ...

Astronaut Career

Shepard was one of the Mercury astronauts named by NASA in April 1959 to Project Mercury, and he holds the distinction of being the first American to journey into space, as well as the only Mercury astronaut to walk on the Moon. On May 5, 1961, in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, he was launched by a Redstone rocket on a ballistic trajectory suborbital flight—a flight which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles and to a landing point 302 statute miles down the Atlantic Missile Range. He was scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 10 Freedom 7-II, three day extended duration mission in October 1963. The MA-10 mission was cancelled on June 13, 1963. Original seven Astronauts portrait (L-R: Schirra, Shepard, Slayton, Grissom, Glenn, Cooper, Carpenter) The Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts picked in April 1959. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (established 1958) is the government agency responsible for the United States of Americas space program and long-term general aerospace research. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Description Role: Orbital spaceflight Crew: one, pilot Dimensions Height: 11. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Crew Alan Shepard (flew on Mercury 3 & Apollo 14) Backup Crew John Glenn Mission parameters Mass: 1,295 kg (apogee) Maximum Altitude: 187. ... First launched in 1953, the American Redstone rocket was a direct descendant of the German V-2. ... A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ... Mercury 10 was planned as a 3-day, 48-orbit mission. ... Mercury 10 was planned as a 3-day, 48-orbit mission. ...

After the Mercury-Atlas 10 mission was cancelled in June 1963, Shepard was designated as the command pilot of the first manned Gemini mission. Thomas Stafford was picked as his co-pilot. But in early 1964, Shepard was diagnosed with Meniere's disease, a condition in which fluid pressure builds up in the inner ear. This syndrome causes the semicircular canals and motion detectors to become extremely sensitive, resulting in disorientation, dizziness, and nausea. This condition caused him to be removed from flight status for most of the 1960's (Virgil Grissom and John Young were assigned to Gemini 3 instead). See also: Tom Stafford (astronomer). ... Ménière’s disease (or syndrome, since its cause is unknown) was first described by French physician Prosper Ménière in 1861. ... Gus Grissom in his Mercury spacesuit Virgil Ivan Gus Grissom (April 3, 1926–January 27, 1967) was a U.S. Air Force pilot who became one of the first American astronauts. ... John Young might refer to the following people: John Young, Royal Advisor to Kamehameha I, Kingdom of Hawaii John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar, Governor of New South Wales (1861-1867) and Governor General of Canada (1869-1872) John Andrew Young, Congressman from Texas John Young, 19th century United States Governor... Gemini 3 was a 1965 manned space flight in NASAs Gemini program. ...

Also in 1963, he was designated Chief of the Astronaut Office with responsibility for monitoring the coordination, scheduling, and control of all activities involving NASA astronauts. This included monitoring the development and implementation of effective training programs to assure the flight readiness of available pilot/non-pilot personnel for assignment to crew positions on manned space flights; furnishing pilot evaluations applicable to the design, construction, and operations of spacecraft systems and related equipment; and providing qualitative scientific and engineering observations to facilitate overall mission planning, formulation of feasible operational procedures, and selection and conduct of specific experiments for each flight.

He was restored to full flight status in May 1969, following corrective surgery (using a newly developed method) for Meniere's disease. He was originally assigned to command Apollo 13, but as it was felt he needed more time to train, he and his crewmates (lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell and command module pilot Stuart Roosa) swapped missions with the then crew of Apollo 14 (James Lovell, Ken Mattingly (who was himself replaced by Jack Swigert shortly before the mission), and Fred Haise). Apollo 13 was an American space mission, part of the Apollo program. ... Edgar D. Mitchell (born September 17, 1930) was the sixth man to walk on the moon. ... Stuart Allen Roosa (August 16, 1933 - December 12, 1994) was a NASA astronaut, who was the command module pilot for the Apollo 14 mission. ... James Lovell has been the name of miore than one prominent man: James Lovell (1736-1814), Continental Congress delegate from Massachusetts James A. Lovell, Jr. ... Thomas Kenneth (Ken) Mattingly II (born March 17, 1936) is an American astronaut who flew on the Apollo 16, STS-4, and STS-51-C missions. ... John Leonard Jack Swigert, Jr. ... Fred Wallace Haise, Jr. ...

At age 47, and the oldest astronaut in the program, Shepard made his second space flight as commander of Apollo 14, January 31–February 9, 1971, man's third lunar landing mission. Maneuvering their lunar module, "Antares," to a landing in the hilly upland Fra Mauro formation on the Moon, Shepard and Mitchell subsequently deployed and activated various scientific instruments and experiments and collected almost 100 pounds (45 kg) of lunar samples for return to earth. Other Apollo 14 achievements included: first use of Mobile Equipment Transporter (MET); largest payload placed in lunar orbit; longest distance traversed on the lunar surface; largest payload returned from the lunar surface; longest lunar surface stay time (33 hours); longest lunar surface EVA (9 hours and 17 minutes); first use of shortened lunar orbit rendezvous techniques; first use of color TV with new vidicon tube on lunar surface; and first extensive orbital science period conducted during CSM solo operations. Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program and the third mission to land on the moon. ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Twenty-four astronauts have been on or near the Moon. ... The Fra Mauro formation on the Moon is the location of the Apollo 14 landing site. ... In older video cameras, prior to the 1990s, a video camera tube or pickup tube was used instead of a charge-coupled device (CCD). ...

Awards and Honors

During his life he was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, Naval Astronaut Wings, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross; recipient of the Langley Award (highest award of the Smithsonian Institution) on May 5, 1964, the Lambert Trophy, the Iven C. Kincheloe Award, the Cabot Award, the Collier Trophy, the City of New York Gold Medal (1971), Achievement Award for 1971. Congressional Space Medal of Honor The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind. ... The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the second highest award which may be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, ranking immediately below the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. ... The NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal is an award of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that was established in the year 1991. ... An Astronaut Badge is a United States, awarded to military aviation pilots who have completed Astronaut training with NASA and performed a successful space flight. ... The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is an award of the United States Navy and United States Marines which was first created in 1919. ... The Distinguished Flying Cross. ... The Smithsonian castle The Smithsonian Institution is a museum complex with most of its facilities in Washington D.C.. It consists of 19 museums and seven research centers, and has 142 million items in its collections. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Iven C. Kincheloe Jr. ... The Collier Trophy is the most prestigious award in the aviation field, given once a year to those that have made the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been...

Shepard was appointed by the President in July 1971 as a delegate to the 26th United Nations General Assembly and served through the entire assembly which lasted from September to December 1971. Order: 37th President Vice President: Spiro Agnew (1969–1973), Gerald R. Ford (1973–1974) Term of office: January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 Preceded by: Lyndon B. Johnson Succeeded by: Gerald R. Ford Date of birth: January 9, 1913 Place of birth: Yorba Linda, California Date of death: April 22... United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. ...

Shepard is also remembered for being the only person to play golf on the Moon (using a converted soil sampler as his club). Golfer teeing off at the start of a hole Golf is an outdoor game where individual players or teams play a small ball into a hole using various clubs. ...

Last Years

Shepard died of leukemia near his home in Pebble Beach, California at age 74. His wife of 53 years, the former Louise Brewer, died five weeks afterward. Leukemia (leukaemia in Commonwealth English) is a group of blood diseases characterized by malignancies (cancer) of the blood-forming tissues. ... Pebble Beach is a small town located on the Pacific coast in northern California. ...

External link

• NASA-Biography