Introduction

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, blast off! America was in space! History was made! Alan Shepard had just become the first American in space. How did he get there, though? What did he do to deserve that privilege? Don’t you wonder?

Childhood

Alan Shepard was born on November 18, 1923 in East Derry, New Hampshire. Shepard grew up on a farm where he lived a hard working and well disciplined life. This kind of childhood proved good for Shepard because it led him to the Navy and NASA. He did many chores around his house to build his hard-working attitude. He got his discipline from his one room schoolhouse. Shepard had a strict teacher who enforced discipline on her class well.

In The Navy

In 1941, Shepard entered the Navy. Shepard was on a destroyer in World War II. He got a lot of experience there for his space flights more than 20 years later. Then in 1947, Shepard qualified as a pilot. In 1950, he became a test pilot and flight instructor. He would keep these jobs until 1958. These jobs gave him even more experience for his upcoming space flights.

Astronaut

Then, in 1959, Shepard was picked to be one of the first seven astronauts. Two years later, Shepard was chosen as the first American to be in space. On May 5, 1961, Shepard’s capsule, Freedom Seven, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Freedom Seven soared 116 miles east on the Atlantic Ocean. Then, Freedom Seven plunged into the Atlantic Ocean just 15 minutes after it took off. It was only 15 minutes because NASA just wanted to see if they could send a man into space successfully. Alan Shepard had just become the first American in space and paved the way for future space flights.

Astronaut Ending

Shepard wanted to be assigned to another space flight after his first one. However, he had a disease of the ears that causes hearing problems and makes you nauseous and dizzy. He got that disease two years after his history-making first flight in 1963. Shepard couldn’t be assigned to a space flight until 1968, when he had successful surgery on his ears. After his surgery, he was assigned to command Apollo 14, the third mission to the moon. Apollo 14 was launched from Cape Kennedy on March 1, 1971. It took five days to get to the moon. Then, on the moon, Shepard and his partner, Edwin Mitchell, conducted geological experiments about the soil and environment and set up a station that would stay on the moon and send messages about what is happening on the moon to scientists on Earth.

Later Life

In 1971, Shepard became the first rear admiral in the Navy which was a great honor for him. Then, Shepard retired from both NASA and the Navy in 1974. Sadly, though, on July 21, 1998, at the age of 74, Alan Shepard died. Alan Shepard reached his goal of serving his country. He served it well, too and will be remembered as the first American in space and as one of the few men to walk on the moon.