Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard (1923-1998), American astronaut. Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., was born in East Derry, New Hampshire, and educated at the U.S. Naval Academy. After his graduation and commission as an ensign in 1944, Shepard's naval duties included service on a destroyer during World War II; he graduated from the Navy Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Maryland, and also from the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1959 Shepard was named as one of the first seven astronauts. On May 5, 1961, he became the first American in space, riding the tiny Freedom 7 capsule to an altitude of 185 km (115 mi) during a 15-minute suborbital flight. Two years later, however, he was grounded with a serious ear condition. An operation in 1969 proved successful, and in February 1971 Captain Shepard was commander of the Apollo 14 moon mission, during which he spent a record 33.5 hours on the surface of the moon. He resigned his commission with the navy in 1974.

See Space Exploration.