Jul 21 1998
From The Space Library
Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, died in his sleep at the age of 74 after a two- year battle with leukemia. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin remembered him for being "one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, for being the first American to fly in space, and for being one of only 12 Americans to step on the Moon." A former U.S. Navy pilot, Shepard had first traveled to space on 5 May 1961, just 23 days after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth. Shepard, the lone astronaut in the small space capsule, Freedom 7, rocketed 116 miles (187 kilometers) above Earth, as millions of people watched him live on television. Shepard's spaceflight proved a significant morale-boosting moment for Americans, in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, which until then had appeared to be winning the space race. After the flight, President John F. Kennedy presented Shepard with the Distinguished Service Medal, challenging the nation to put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. Shepard made history again in 1971, when he commanded Apollo 14 on its nine-day mission to the Moon. He delighted Americans watching the expedition on television, when, taking a break from collecting Moon rocks, he hit two golf balls with an improvised club. Shepard, who had retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy in 1974, received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1979. Shepard also engaged in philanthropic pursuits, such as investing in the establishment of the Astronaut Foundation, which provides scholarships. The Astronaut Foundation had also founded the Space Camp program for young people.
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