From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr
NASA Astronaut
Status	Deceased
Born	November 18, 1923(1923-11-18) Derry, New Hampshire
Died	July 21, 1998 (aged 74) Pebble Beach, California
Other occupation	Test pilot
Rank	Rear Admiral, USN
Time in space	216 hours and 57 min[1]
Selection	1959 NASA Group
Missions	MR-3, Apollo 14
Mission insignia
Awards	Navy Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Flying Cross

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) (Rear Admiral, United States Navy, Ret.) was the second person and the first American in space. He later commanded the Apollo 14 mission, and was the fifth person to walk on the moon.

Naval career

Shepard was born in East Derry, New Hampshire, to Lt. Colonel Alan B. Shepard, Sr. and Renza (Emerson) Shepard. He began his naval career after graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1944, and served on the destroyer USS Cogswell while it was deployed in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. He subsequently entered flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas and Pensacola, Florida, and received his naval aviator wings in 1947. He was assigned to Fighter Squadron 42 based at Norfolk, Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida, and served several tours aboard aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean with the squadron.

In 1950, he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland. After graduation, he participated in flight test work which included high-altitude tests to obtain data on light at different altitudes and on a variety of air masses over the American continent; test and development experiments of the Navy's in-flight refueling system; carrier suitability trials of the F2H-3 Banshee; and Navy trials of the first angled carrier deck. He was subsequently assigned to Fighter Squadron 193 based at Moffett Field, California, a night fighter unit flying Banshee jets. As operations officer of this squadron, he made two tours to the western Pacific on board the carrier USS Oriskany.

He returned to Patuxent for a second tour of duty and engaged in flight testing the F3H Demon, F8U Crusader, F4D Skyray, and F11F Tiger. He was also project test pilot on the F5D Skylancer, and his last five months at Patuxent were spent as an instructor in the Test Pilot School. He later attended the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, and upon graduating (Master of Arts in military science) in 1958 was subsequently assigned to the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, as aircraft readiness officer.

He logged more than 8,000 hours flying time—3,700 hours in jet aircraft.

Astronaut career

Project Mercury

Shepard aboard Freedom 7.

In 1959, Shepard was one of 110 military test pilots invited by the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration to volunteer for the first manned space flight program. Following a gruelling series of physical and psychological tests, NASA selected Shepard to be one of the original group of seven Mercury astronauts.

In January, 1961 Shepard was chosen for the first American manned mission into space. Although the flight was originally scheduled to take place in October 1960, delays caused by unplanned preparatory work meant that this was postponed several times, initially to March 6, 1961 and finally to May 5, 1961.^[2] On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first person to orbit the Earth.

Freedom 7

Alan Shepard in Freedom 7 capsule before launch.

On May 5, 1961, Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space.^[3] He was launched by a Redstone rocket, and unlike Gagarin's 108 minute orbital flight, Shepard stayed on a ballistic trajectory suborbital flight—a flight which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles and to a landing point 302 statute miles down the Atlantic Missile Range. Unlike Gagarin, whose flight was strictly automatic, Shepard had some control of Freedom 7, spacecraft attitude in particular. The launch, return from space and subsequent collection by helicopter were seen live on television by millions.

On his successful return to Earth, Shepard was celebrated as a national hero, honored with parades in Washington, New York and Los Angeles and meeting President John F. Kennedy.

Shortly before the launch, Shepard said to himself: "Don't fuck up, Shepard..."^[4] This quote was reported as "Dear Lord, please don't let me fuck up" in The Right Stuff,^[5] though Shepard confirmed this as a misquote. Regardless, the latter quote has since become known among aviators as "Shepard's Prayer."

According to Gene Kranz in his book Failure Is Not an Option:

Later, he was scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 10 Freedom 7-II, three day extended duration mission in October 1963. The MA-10 mission was cancelled on June 13, 1963. He was the back-up pilot for Gordon "Gordo" Cooper for the MA-9 mission.

Project Gemini

After the Mercury-Atlas 10 mission was cancelled in June 1963, Shepard was designated as the command pilot of the first manned Gemini mission. Thomas Stafford was picked as his co-pilot. But in early 1964, Shepard was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, a condition in which fluid pressure builds up in the inner ear. This syndrome causes the semicircular canals and motion detectors to become extremely sensitive, resulting in disorientation, dizziness, and nausea. This condition caused him to be removed from flight status for most of the 1960s (Gus Grissom and John Young were assigned to Gemini 3 instead).

Also in 1963, he was designated Chief of the Astronaut Office with responsibility for monitoring the coordination, scheduling, and control of all activities involving NASA astronauts. This included monitoring the development and implementation of effective training programs to assure the flight readiness of available pilot/non-pilot personnel for assignment to crew positions on manned space flights; furnishing pilot evaluations applicable to the design, construction, and operations of spacecraft systems and related equipment; and providing qualitative scientific and engineering observations to facilitate overall mission planning, formulation of feasible operational procedures, and selection and conduct of specific experiments for each flight.

Apollo Program

Shepard was restored to full flight status in May 1969, following corrective surgery (using a newly developed method) for Ménière's disease. He was originally assigned to command Apollo 13, but as it was felt he needed more time to train, he and his crewmates (lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell and command module pilot Stuart Roosa) swapped missions with the then crew of Apollo 14 (James Lovell, Ken Mattingly and Fred Haise).

Apollo 14

This TV image shows Alan Shepard golfing on the Moon

At age 47, and the oldest astronaut in the program, Shepard made his second space flight as commander of Apollo 14, January 31–February 9, 1971, America's third successful lunar landing mission. Shepard piloted his Lunar Module Antares to the most accurate landing of the entire Apollo program. This was the first mission to successfully broadcast color television pictures from the surface of the Moon, using the vidicon tube. (The color camera on Apollo 12 provided a few brief moments of color telecasting before it was inadvertently pointed at the sun, effectively ending its usefulness.) While on the Moon Shepard played golf with a Wilson six-iron head attached to a lunar sample scoop handle [1]. Despite thick gloves and a stiff spacesuit which forced him to swing the club with one hand only, Shepard struck two golf balls with a six iron, driving the second, as he jokingly put it, "miles and miles and miles."^[6]

Following Apollo 14, Shepard returned to his position as Chief of the Astronaut Office in June, 1971. He was promoted to Rear Admiral before finally retiring both from the Navy and NASA on August 1, 1974.

Awards and honors

Astronaut Alan Shepard raises the United States Flag on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 14 mission.

During his life he was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor; two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, Naval Astronaut Wings, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross; recipient of the Langley Award (highest award of the Smithsonian Institution) on May 5, 1964, the Lambert trophy, the Iven C. Kincheloe Award, the Cabot Award, the Collier Trophy, and the City of New York Gold Medal for 1971.

Shepard was appointed by President Nixon in July 1971 as a delegate to the 26th United Nations General Assembly, and served through the entire assembly session from September to December 1971.

The Navy named a supply ship, Alan Shepard (T-AKE-3), for him in 2006. A geodesic dome was built in his honor in Virginia Beach, Virginia but demolished in 1994 [2].

A model of the Redstone missile which was used to launch Shepard aboard Freedom 7 into space, is still on display in the Warren, New Hampshire town square.

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, New Hampshire is named after Christa McAuliffe and Alan Shepard.

Interstate 93 in New Hampshire, from the Massachusetts border to its intersection with Route 101 in Manchester, is named in his honor. It passes through his native Derry.

Interstate 565 in northern Alabama connecting Decatur, Alabama, and Huntsville, Alabama is officially the "Admiral Alan B. Shepard Highway."

Derry almost changed its name to "Spacetown", considering it in honor of his career as an astronaut.^{[citation needed]} Following an Act of Congress,^[7] the Post Office in Derry is designated the 'Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Post Office Building'.

His high school alma mater in Derry, Pinkerton Academy, has a building named after him, and the school team name is the Astros after his career as an astronaut.^[8]

Alan B. Shepard High School, in Palos Heights, Illinois, which opened in 1976, was named in his honor. Framed newspapers throughout the school depict various accomplishments and milestones in Shepard's life. Additionally, an autographed plaque commemorates the dedication of the building. The school newspaper is named Freedom 7 and the yearbook is entitled Odyssey. The television news show is called NASA - News About Shepard Astros.

Other schools which honor his memory include Alan B. Shepard Middle School, Deerfield, Illinois; Alan B. Shepard Middle School, San Antonio, Texas; Alan B. Shepard Elementary School, Bourbonnais, Illinois, Alan B. Shepard Elementary School, Old Bridge, New Jersey and, formerly, Alan B. Shepard Elementary School in Highland Park, Illinois (closed).

Alan Shepard Park in Cocoa Beach, Florida, a beach-side park just south of the Kennedy Space Center where Shepard launched from, is named in his honor.^[9]

The Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions by K–12 educators and district-level personnel in the field of educational technology, is presented annually by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation (AMF) in partnership with the Space Foundation and NASA.

Later years

Shepard's memorial stone in Derry, New Hampshire. Shepard's ashes were scattered at sea.

Always a shrewd businessman, Shepard was the first astronaut to become a millionaire while still in the program. After he left the program, he served on the boards of many corporations under the auspices of his Seven-Fourteen Enterprises (named for his two flights, Freedom 7 and Apollo 14).

In 1994, he published a book with two journalists, Jay Barbree and Howard Benedict, called Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon. Fellow Mercury astronaut Deke Slayton is also named as an author, but he died before the project was completed and was an author in name only. The book generated some controversy for use of a deliberately faked photo showing Shepard hitting a golf ball on the moon (the only other usable photo was a grainy TV videotape), a photo which Barbree re-used in a 2007 memoir. The book was also turned into a TV miniseries in 1994.

Shepard died of leukemia near his home in Pebble Beach, California on July 21, 1998, (the 29th anniversary of the first moonwalk), two years after being diagnosed with that disease. His wife of 53 years, Louise Brewer, died five weeks afterward. Both were cremated, and their ashes were committed to the sea.

They had three daughters, Laura (born in 1947), Juliana (born in 1951) and Alice (born in 1951). Alice was Louise's niece, but raised as their own daughter^[10]. He also had six grandchildren. Laura had a daughter, Lark and son, Bart. Juliana had a daughter, Ethney and son, Shepard. Alice had a son, Reid, and a daughter, Heather. He was also one of many famous descendants of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.

Legacy

Each year, the Space Foundation, in partnership with the Astronauts Memorial Foundation (AMF) and NASA, present the Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award for outstanding contributions made by K–12 educators or district-level administrators to educational technology. The award recognizes excellence in the development and application of technology in the classroom or to the professional development of teachers. The recipient demonstrates exemplary use of technology either to foster lifelong learners or to make the learning process easier. Recipients include:

• 2009 Ricardo V. Soria;^[11]
• 2008 Kevin L. Simmons;
• 2007 Luther W. Richardson;
• 2006 Kathy R. Brandon;
• 2005 Ronald F. Dantowitz;
• 2004 Charles Geach;
• 2003 Brian Copes;
• 2002 Thomas F. Hunt, Frank E. Waller;
• 2001 Lori Byrnes;

Media

• 1965 - the character of Alan Tracy in the Thunderbirds was named after him.^{[citation needed]}
• 1983 film The Right Stuff - played by Scott Glenn
• 1998 HBO TV series From The Earth To The Moon - played by Ted Levine
• 2005 BBC TV series Space Race - played by Todd Boyce
• 2001 Opening montage, Star Trek: Enterprise
• 2002 film Race to Space, played by Mark Moses
• 2007 - the player character in Bioware's Mass Effect is named in honor of him.

References

United States Navy portal

• Kranz, Gene. Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond. ISBN 0-7432-0079-9.

External links

• Obituary, NY Times, July 23, 1998 Alan B. Shepard Jr. Is Dead at 74; First American to Travel in Space
• Alan Shepard at Find a Grave Retrieved on 2009-05-06

From Wikiquote

Alan Shepard (1963)

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) (Rear Admiral, USN, Ret.) was the second person and the first American in space. He later commanded the Apollo 14 mission, and was the fifth person to walk on the moon.

Sourced

• There's no question that all the generations got excited about the first flights, with Kennedy's inspiration to go to the moon, leaving the planet for the first time, and fortunately coming back.
  • Richard Louv (August 2, 1995) "The thrill of space? Let's ask Alan Shepard", The San Diego Union-Tribune, p. A-2.

• I know you're all saying I can go to the moon but I can't find Pasadena.
  • When Shepard arrived a half-hour late to a book signing of Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon — reported in Sun-Sentinel wire services (June 19, 1995) "Astronaut Late to Signing", Sun-Sentinel, p. 2A.

• There were similarities between these two incidents. The similarity was too much success ... over-confidence and complacency, quite frankly.
  • Discussing the 1967 Apollo 1 fire and 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster incidents — reported in The Deseret News staff (May 7, 1995) "Even Cosmos Is Aghast at Size of Earthly Egos", The Deseret News, p. A2.

• I realized up there that our planet is not infinite. It's fragile. That may not be obvious to a lot of folks, and it's tough that people are fighting each other here on Earth instead of trying to get together and live on this planet. We look pretty vulnerable in the darkness of space.
  • Josh Getlin, Los Angeles Times (July 19, 1994) "What Does Moon Flight Mean Now", The Seattle Times, p. A10.

• I guess those of us who have been with NASA ... kind of understand the tremendous excitement and thrills and celebrations and national pride that went with the Apollo program is just something you're not going to create again, probably until we go to Mars.
  • James Endrst (July 8, 1994) "It's Been 25 Years Since We Took That Giant Leap For Mankind - Moon Odyssey", The Hartford Courant, p. B1.

Alan Shepard in 1970

• We need a continuing presence in space.
  • Bill Kaczor, Associated Press (May 8, 1993) "Astronauts advocate return to the moon, space flights beyond", The Tampa Tribune, p. 7.

• The first one I hit pretty flush with one hand - went about 200 yards. And the second one I shanked, and it rolled into a crater about 40 yards away.
  • Describing his golf shots made on the Moon — reported in Philip Morgan (April 4, 1993) "'Boy, what a ride!' - On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard went from being a mere Navy commander to an American icon - the country's first man in space. That 15-minute, 28-second flight on Freedom 7 catapulted him into fame, searing his name and face into the collective imagination of a generation", The Tampa Tribune, p. 1.

• I think about the personal accomplishment, but there's more of a sense of the grand achievement by all the people who could put this man on the moon.
  • The Denver Post staff (September 29, 1992) "Shepard still shoots for moon", The Denver Post, p. 1D.

• I can hit it farther on the moon. But actually, my swing is better here on Earth.
  • The Orlando Sentinel staff (August 13, 1992) "Lunar-Golfer Shepard Takes Swings In Tourney", The Orlando Sentinel, p. A2.

• If we had said 30 years ago that we were going to have only two incidents with casualties, we would have thought, 'Boy, that's great. To me, that indicates that the program has really exceeded what the early expectations were.
  • Beth Dickey, Reuters (May 5, 1991) "First American in Space Marks 30th Anniversary", The Commercial Appeal, p. A2.

Shepard and Edgar Mitchell erect flag on lunar surface

• No way that any astronaut worth his salt volunteered for the space program to become a hero. You don't select astronauts who want fame and fortune. You select them because they're the best test pilots in the world, they know it, and it's a personal challenge for them. And the astronauts of today are exactly the same.
  • Roxanne Roberts (May 4, 1991) "Blastoff to the Past - Tribute to America's First Men in Space", The Washington Post, p. D1.

• I just wanted to be the first one to fly for America, not because I'd end up in the pages of history books.
  • Marcia Dunn, Associated Press Aerospace Writer (May 1, 1991) "Ex-Astronaut Recalls Thrill of 1st U.S. Space Flight", The Deseret News, p. A1.

• This is the first time that astronauts of the first group have exhibited things that are personal and sentimental to them. We hope it will encourage youngsters to follow in our footsteps.
  • On dedicating the Astronaut Hall of Fame — reported in Associated Press (May 12, 1990) "Five of Mercury Seven return to the Cape, Launch Hall of Fame - Astronauts hope exhibits will inspire youths to learn", The Gazette, p. A2.

• The same way people are now paying a couple thousand dollars to fly to other parts of the world, people will be paying $50,000 to spend a weekend on a space station.
  • Malcolm Howard (April 30, 1987) "The Day the Earth Stood Still - On Film, Anyway", The Record, p. B08.

• We had some adverse conditions in the '60s, in the '70s and the '80s. The agency has risen above that in the past and will rise above that again.
  • Elizabeth Kastor (February 21, 1987) "The Flight of Memory - Mercury Reunion Honors Glenn's Voyage", The Washington Post, p. G1.

• We're going to see passengers in space stations in 15 years, who will be able to buy a ticket and spend a weekend in space.
  • The Dallas Morning News staff (July 28, 1986) "People", The Dallas Morning News, p. 2A.

About

Shepard in Freedom 7 capsule before launch (1961)

• Now that we've lost Alan Shepard, I can't help feeling that something is wrong with this picture; astronauts aren't supposed to grow old and leave this Earth forever. In our memories, they remain as Shepard was on that sunny Friday morning in May 1961, when he lay inside a tiny Mercury capsule ready to be hurled into space atop a Redstone booster.
  • Andrew Chaikin (August 2, 1998) "Real American heroes: Shepard pushed our frontiers", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, p. 3.

• With the passing of Alan Shepard, our nation has lost an outstanding patriot, one of its finest pilots -and I have lost a very close friend.
  • Senator John Glenn — reported in Nicole Koch (July 24, 1998) "The man who played golf on the Moon", The Daily Telegraph (Australia), p. 035.

• His service will always loom large in America's history. He is one of the great heroes of modern America.
  • President Bill Clinton — reported in Seth Borenstein (July 23, 1998) "Astronaut Filled America's Need for a Space Hero", Detroit Free Press, p. 1A.

• His flight was a tremendous statement about tenacity, courage and brilliance. He crawled on top of that rocket that had never before flown into space with a person aboard, and he did it. That was an unbelievable act of courage.
  • NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin — reported in Mark Carreau (July 23, 1998) "Alan Shepard, first American in space, is dead at 74 - Space Age pioneer succumbs to lengthy illness in California", Houston Chronicle, p. A1.

• One can make the argument that the success of the Shepard flight enabled the decision to go to the moon.
  • John Logsdon — reported in John Noble Wilford, The New York Times (July 23, 1998) "Alan Shepard 1923-1998 One of 7 Original Astronauts, He was First American in Space", The Plain Dealer, p. 1A.

• Alan Shepard was a great man, a great leader. We were pioneers. If you are an explorer, what more can you ask than to travel into space.
  • Edgar Mitchell — reported in St. Petersburg Times staff (July 23, 1998) "Alan Shepard Jr. 1923-1998 - Space pioneer", St. Petersburg Times, p. 1A.

• Certainly Shepard's flight was a major moment in American history and it clearly showed we were going to respond to the Soviet challenge.
  • Louis Friedman — reported in David Montero (July 23, 1998) "Alan B. Shepard: 1923-1998 - A man of the heavens First American in space, moon golfer dies in sleep", Ventura County Star, p. A01.

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Alan Shepard

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Alan Shepard

• NASA-Biography
• Alan Shepard, at Find A Grave