Slideshow: Alan Shepard’s Historic Spaceflight
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The Mercury 7
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/project-mercury.jpgIn 1959, in the early years of the space race against the Soviet Union, NASA invited 110 military test pilots to volunteer for Project Mercury, the United States’ first manned spaceflight program. Because the Mercury spacecraft afforded little room, candidates had to be less than 6 feet and weigh no more than 180 pounds. Other requirements included 1,500 hours of flying time and an age under 40. After several month of physical and mental testing, NASA narrowed the group down to seven astronauts, including Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom and John Glenn. (Credit: NASA)
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Ham the Chimpanzee After His Spaceflight
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/chimpanzee-ham.jpgBefore sending humans into space, NASA used animals to test the safety of Project Mercury’s equipment and procedures. A chimpanzee named Ham went on a suborbital mission on January 31, 1961, in a spacecraft similar to that piloted by Alan Shepard during his historic flight more than two months later. After 16 minutes in space, Ham splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, suffering only a bruised nose. He lived out the rest of his years at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and at the North Carolina Zoo. (Credit: NASA)
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Alan Shepard in His Spacesuit
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/alan-shepard-in-space-suit.jpgOf the seven Project Mercury astronauts, 37-year-old Alan Shepard, a New Hampshire-born World War II veteran with more than 8,000 hours of flying time, was chosen to pilot the first manned mission. His intelligence, devotion and determination were later cited as reasons for his selection. (Credit: NASA)
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Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/yuri.jpgOriginally scheduled for March 1961, Shepard’s journey aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft was postponed several times due to technical problems. On April 12, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted off from a base in Kazakhstan and completed an orbit around the Earth, becoming the first person to enter outer space. It was to be his only spaceflight.
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Launch of Freedom 7
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/launch-of-freedom-7.jpgThree weeks after Gagarin landed safely in Russia, Shepard, ensconced in Freedom 7’s capsule, was launched from Cape Canaveral by a Redstone rocket. An estimated 45 million Americans watched on live television as the spacecraft lifted off at 9:34 a.m. (Credit: NASA)
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Shepard in Freedom 7’s Capsule
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/alan-shepard-closeup.jpgDuring the flight, which lasted for 15 minutes and 28 seconds, Shepard traveled more than 300 miles from his launch point. Unlike Gagarin’s mission, Mercury-Redstone 3 followed a ballistic trajectory and did not complete an orbit of the Earth. John Glenn would become the first American to accomplish that feat in February 1962, traveling around the Earth three times on the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission. (Credit: NASA)
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Recovery of Freedom 7
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/recovery-of-freedom-7.jpgAfter Freedom 7 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, Shepard waited inside the capsule for rescue to arrive. After several minutes, a recovery helicopter hovered over the splashdown point. (Credit: NASA)
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Shepard Completes His Mission
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/shepard-completes-mission.jpgShepard exited through Freedom 7’s main hatch and was hoisted aboard the helicopter. (Credit: NASA)
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Shepard and Freedom 7 Aboard USS Lake Champlain
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/shepard-after-freedom-7-recovery.jpgBoth the astronaut and his spacecraft were flown to a waiting aircraft carrier, USS Lake Champlain. (Credit: NASA)
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Gus Grissom
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/gus-grissom.jpgThe second American to enter space was Gus Grissom, who piloted the Mercury-Redtone 4 mission on July 21, 1961. After completing a suborbital flight similar to Shepard’s, he encountered problems when his capsule, Liberty Bell 7, began to flood after splashdown. Grissom survived but the spacecraft was lost at sea. Assigned as command pilot for the first Apollo mission, Grissom died tragically on January 27, 1967, when a fire during a pre-launch test claimed the lives of all three Apollo 1 astronauts. (Credit: NASA)
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The Crew of Apollo 14
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/apollo-14-crew.jpgAfter his historic flight, Alan Shepard was grounded for several years due to health problems. During this time he oversaw flight training, crew selection, spacecraft development and more as NASA’s chief astronaut. Restored to flight status in 1969, he commanded the Apollo 14 mission—the third to land on the moon—in January and February of 1971. (Credit: NASA)
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Alan Shepard on the Moon
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/alan-shepard-apollo-14.jpgDuring the Apollo 14 mission, Shepard became the fifth person to walk on the moon. He delighted television viewers by hitting two golf balls off the lunar surface with a makeshift club. Shepard retired from NASA and the Navy in 1974. (Credit: NASA)
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