Alan Shephard: First American in Space

On May 5, 1961 Alan Shephard became the first American in space. Fifty years later astronauts and regular people alike are still dreaming of how that must have felt. We know that the first man in space was Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin from an earlier post here on the Space Log. Shephard volunteered as part of the Mercury: Freedom 7 program and he had to undergo lots of different physical and mental tests to qualify. After a few setbacks and date changes, the launch was scheduled for May 5.

Shephard was launched into space by a Mercury Redstone Launch Vehicle or Redstone Rocket. Millions of people watched the launch as it was taking place on live television, although this was before most people had color TV. Let’s just say it was far from high-definition. The 15-minute flight carried Shephard 187km into the atmosphere and he splashdown landed into the Atlantic Ocean safe and sound.

{image via NASA}