🥇13 Facts About Astronaut Alan Shepard, First American In Space 【2021】 | Enor Cerna

On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American astronaut in space when he flew the Mercury Freedom 7 spacecraft in a suborbital flight, soaring 116 miles above Earth and then splashing into the Atlantic Ocean after 15.5 miles. minutes. Ten years later, Shepard became the fifth man to walk on the moon, and the oldest, at age 47, when he participated in the Apollo 14 lunar landing. Shepard is remembered as a complex man who lived a gargantuan life. With that in mind, here are 13 interesting facts about Alan Shepard.

1. Alan Shepard went to class in a one-room school.

Born on November 18, 1923 in East Derry, New Hampshire, Shepard attended a one-room school during his early years. He then enrolled in Pinkerton Academy, an independent day and boarding school, where he got good grades, particularly in math. Shepard graduated in 1940 and went on to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

2. Alan Shepard was almost expelled from flight school.

Shepard graduated from the naval academy in 1944 and later enrolled in flight school at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas. Shepard was a mediocre student and was about to be dropped from the program; He then decided to take private flying lessons. He earned his civilian pilot's license, his skills improved, and he earned above-average grades. His final test included six perfect landings on the aircraft carrier USS Saipan.

3. Alan Shepard's ship was the first to enter Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered in World War II.

Shepard saw active service in the Pacific. He served on the destroyer USS Cogswell during the Battle of Okinawa and in Tokyo Bay when Japanese forces surrendered to end the war. Japanese officials signed the surrender aboard the USS. Missouri on September 2, 1945, although the Cogswell it was the first of the Allied ships to enter the bay.

4. NASA chose Alan Shepard for its first astronaut class.

After the war, Shepard attended the United States Naval Test Pilot School in Maryland and worked as a test pilot and instructor. When the newly established National Aeronautics and Space Administration asked for volunteers to participate in its space exploration program, Shepard was one of approximately 100 test pilots who underwent a battery of mental, physical and technical examinations. He was chosen in 1959 as one of the original seven astronauts in NASA's Mercury program, along with John Glenn, Wally Schirra, Deke Slayton, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, and Gus Grissom.

5. Alan Shepard had to urinate in his spacesuit when Freedom 7's takeoff was delayed.

Shepard was chosen over Grissom and Glenn to man the Mercury Freedom 7 capsule, scheduled to take off at approximately 7 a.m. on May 5, 1961, for a 15-minute flight. But a series of delays meant Shepard was tied to his seat for more than three hours and dressed for about four hours.

Shepard radioed to ask if he could come out and relieve himself, and was told no. He warned them that he would urinate on his suit, sparking a frenzy in mission control over whether doing so would short-circuit the wires and thermometers inside. Finally, the power was temporarily cut off and Shepard was allowed to continue. Her long underwear absorbed the liquid, which quickly evaporated. Later, after another delay, a frustrated and anxious Shepard barked, "Why don't you fix your little problem and light this candle?"

6. A Russian cosmonaut traveled to space before Alan Shepard.

The Soviet space program had launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space 23 days before Shepard, but Shepard's flight bolstered American efforts in the space race. It also gave the United States the right to brag, as Shepard actually piloted his spaceship while Gagarin's flight had been handled entirely by ground control.

7. Vertigo almost prevented Alan Shepard from reaching the moon.

Shepard began experiencing dizziness after being appointed command pilot of the Gemini program and was suspended from flight in 1964. He was diagnosed with Meniere's disease, which affects the inner ear and causes vertigo. In 1968, he had a bypass implanted in his ear in a procedure that, at the time, had little chance of success. But surgery corrected the problem and it was cleared in 1969 to full spaceflight status.

8. Alan Shepard was chosen to command the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, then replaced.

Shepard was assigned to fly Apollo 13 along with Stuart Roosa and Ed Mitchell. That crew was then reassigned to the Apollo 14 mission to allow additional training time. Apollo 13 never landed on the moon, as viewers of Tom Hanks' 1995 film know: An oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to return to Earth in an emergency.

When Shepard walked on the moon in January 1971, he became the oldest man to do so. He and Mitchell spent more than 33 hours on the lunar surface, including more than nine hours off the ship; Roosa orbited the Kitty Hawk command module.

9. Alan Shepard had the idea to hit a golf ball on the moon from Bob Hope.

Towards the end of the Apollo 14 mission, Shepard pulled out a six iron and two specially made golf balls, and on his third attempt, he drove the ball 200 yards across the lunar surface.

Shepard got the idea after comedian Bob Hope visited NASA headquarters in Houston. Hope always carried a golf club, even today. While the artist was tethered to a training device that simulated the gravity of a sixth of the moon, Shepard realized that hitting a golf ball would be an effective way to demonstrate the gravitational pull of the moon.

Shepard's modified hammer featured a six-iron head attached to an aluminum and Teflon folding tool that could collect moon rock samples; Shepard loaded the clubhead and golf balls in a tube sock and saved the trick for the end of the mission, after everything else had worked out. The "lunar club" is on display at the USGA Golf Museum and Library in New Jersey, acquired after a personal request from board member Bing Crosby. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum has a replica that Shepard donated in 1975.

10. Alan Shepard's nicknames included "The Ice Commander" and "Smilin 'Al."

Shepard headed NASA's astronaut office from 1963 to 1969 and again from 1971 to 1974. During his long career with the agency, Shepard was able to be distant and demanding. He kept his privacy throughout his life, staying away from both his colleagues and the press. At other times he was the life of the party, sociable and charming. Author Tom Wolfe captured both characters in his story of the postwar space race, The right thing.

11. Alan Shepard was not impressed with The right thing.

Wolfe's book and subsequent film were commercial successes, but Shepard was lacking. He said Weekly editors that Wolfe never spoke to the original seven astronauts and based his book on rumors and second-hand accounts. He thought that the plot of the film was good, but that the characterizations "left a little to be desired". Later, on a tour promoting his own book, Shot at the moon, Shepard took a look at Wolfe's work when he said: “We wanted to call ours The real things since his was only fiction ".

12. Pinkerton Academy, Alan Shepard's high school, changed its mascot in his honor.

Shepard brought the then-small town of Derry, New Hampshire, a measure of fame in the 1950s and 1960s, and the town was proud of its local hero. His high school named its teams Astros after Shepard's flight in 1961; the mascot became Astro Man. Several buildings are also named after Shepard.

13. Juliana, Alan Shepard's daughter, helped the passengers to survive a plane crash.

Alan Shepard and his wife Louise were married for over 50 years and had three daughters: Laura, Alice, and Juliana. In her career as a flight attendant, Juliana was working on Continental Airlines Flight 426, which crashed immediately after takeoff from Denver's Stapleton International Airport on August 7, 1975. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the aircraft had likely encountered heavy wind shear due to nearby storms. [PDF]. All 135 people on board the flight survived. Continental President and CEO Robert F. Six praised Juliana for her courageous actions during the accident.