In the 20th century, the United States of America was involved in a space race with the USSR. Each country wanted to best the other in terms of spaceflight. Alan Shepard played a big role in this rivalry. A major figure, he is known for being the first American in space. He also was the first person to play golf on the moon. In addition, he was one of the first 7 astronauts NASA chose. Alan B. Shepard was born on November 18, 1923 in East Derry, New Hampshire. He grew up on a farm with his parents. As a child, he liked to help out at the local airfield so he could learn more about airplanes. This early influence would lead to a career in space travel. He attended primary and secondary school in New Hampshire as well. Being an excellent student, …show more content…
On March 3, 1945, he married Louise Brewer. He continued on with his education and graduated from the Naval Test Pilot School in 1951. He also attended Naval War College, which he graduated from in 1957. As a test pilot he tested many different planes, including the F5D Skylancer and the F3H Demon. He also joined a fighter unit in California called Fight Squadron 193. Later in his life he received many other degrees, among them Honorary Doctorates of Science and Humanities.
In April of 1959, NASA recruited Shepard as one of the Mercury Seven. A few of his contemporaries at NASA were Deke Slayton, John Glenn, and Gus Grissom. They trained for two years and Shepard was chosen to be the first American in space. However, he would not be the first in history since Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, had already made it to space a few weeks earlier. On May 5, 1961, Shepard flew a one-man Mercury spacecraft. On this mission, Shepard flew up 116 miles and then returned to Earth, all in about 15 minutes. All he did on this mission was enter space; he did not orbit
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This problem led Shepard being grounded. Instead of being an astronaut, he became the chief of the astronaut office. In this job, he helped out with plan missions and prepare astronauts for their missions. Finally, in 1968, he had a surgery to fix his medical problem. However, NASA still opted to choose other astronauts for these missions. During this time, the Apollo 11 and 12 missions were taking place.
Shepard’s wish came true in 1971. He was the commander of the Apollo 14 mission, set to go to the moon. He had a two man crew of Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell. Roosa was the command module pilot and Mitchell was the lunar module pilot. They took off on January 31, 1971 on the Saturn V Rocket. This rocket was of the Heavy Lift Vehicle genre, which meant it was very powerful. This rocket would eventually help launch Skylab as well in 1973. Alan and Edgar landed on the moon on February 15, 1971.
On Shepard’s second mission of his career, he spend more than 33 hours on the moon. The time was spanned over two spacewalks. Shepard and Mitchell collected over 100 pounds of moon rocks. They also did science experiments on the moon to test the environment. Shepard had even brought a special golf club to play golf on the moon. He wanted to play golf to see what would happen with the moon’s lower
John Glenn was born on July 18, 1921 in Cambridge, Ohio. After he graduated, in 1942 he enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program thus joining WWII. He flew 59 combat missions during his time in the war. He later became an astronaut for NASA, and on February 20th, 1962,
After that, Alan Shepard is chosen to be the first man in space and he perfectly landing in the ocean at the end of his space travel. Then, the other six Astronauts lobbed into space one by one, and all of them are eventually landed safely. Hence, the press and media treat them as American Heroes despite their mistakes, such as the Gus Grissom mistakenly pops the top off the capsule at the wrong time. As the result, NASA became the topic of focus for the people all over the country, which spurred by the government’s propaganda and local media reporting. Meanwhile, Edwards Air Force Base is working on the cultivation of astronauts and development of the rocket planes even the public is not paying attention to them. In particular, the legendary
Apollo 13 was to be the third mission sent from the Apollo Project to land on the Moon. An explosion in one of the oxygen tanks caused the spacecraft to become crippled during the flight and the crew were forced to orbit the Moon and return to the Earth without landing. The Apollo 13 mission was launched on Saturday afternoon, April 11, 1970 from launch complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The space prime crew consisted of trained experts Commander James A. Lovell Jr., Command module pilot Ken Mattingly and Lunar module pilot Fred W. Haise Jr. There was also three backup crew members named John W. Young, John L. Swigert Jr. and Charles M. Duke. This crew was ready to step in if for any reason something were to happen to any of the main
The Apollo Program (1963-1972) was a series of missions with a goal to land humans on the moon. The program’s objective, set by President Kennedy in 1961, was achieved nine short years later (The Apollo Missions). Of the program, six were successful in doing so, Apollo 11 being the first to achieve that goal (Williams). The crew contained Neil Armstrong, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin Jr. , and Michael Collins.
On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins began their journey towards the moon’s surface in the Apollo 11 operation. By July 19, the men entered the lunar orbit. July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin descended towards the moon on the lunar module, the Eagle, while Collins remained in the command module (“The Space Race”). On this day, Armstrong “became the first man to walk on the moon’s surface; he famously called the moment ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’” (“The Space Race”). After docking and rejoining Collins, Apollo 11 successfully returned home. Russia was unable to match this feat, as they failed four lunar landing attempts between the years 1969 and 1972 (“The Space Race”). The U.S. had officially won the space race.
on May 25, 1961, he stood before congress to deliver a special message on “urgent national needs.” He asked for an additional $7 billion dollar to $9 billion dollar over the next five years for the space program, proclaiming that “this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” President Kennedy settled upon this dramatic goal as a means of focusing and mobilizing the nation’s lagging space efforts. Skeptics questioned the ability of the NASA to meet the President’s timetable. Within a year, however, Alan Shepard Gus Grissom became the first two Americans to travel into
Although there is disagreement on the precise date that the Space Race began, the moment that it became an important competition that was in the forefront of the minds of everyday Americans is on April 12, 1961 when Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth in Vostok 1. (citation). This event created a feeling amongst the American public that the Russians were further ahead in science and technology than the United States, as well as the fear that the Soviets could use their superior technology to be better able to attack the USA from a distance. Shortly after Gagarin’s flight, the United States launched astronaut Alan Sheppard into
Neil Armstrong, the captain of the mission, started off as a test pilot, until he was recruited as a backup to the Gemini 5 mission. In 1966, Armstrong served as the command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission; this gave him confidence and allowed him to be part of the Apollo 11 mission. Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin in the same way was a test pilot, but after the deaths in the Gemini mission crew he was promoted to backup, and eventually Apollo 11. Michael Collins, who remained in orbit around the moon in a separate aircraft during the moon walk, said during an interview, that he did not have the best seat on the mission and was always worrying about his counterparts during the moonwalk. Armstrong and Aldrin explored the surface for around two and a half hours and collected 47 pounds of material for analysis. Following that mission, many other flights were taken to the learn more about the composition, age, and most
The space race was a race to see who could do more and get more done in space. It was done against the U.S and the USSR. The USSR was the first to make something orbit the Earth that was the spacecraft Sputnik I. In 1957 USSR launch the Sputnik I it took 98 minutes to make its orbit. It spend 21 days in space before it burned up in the atmosphere. The USSR later launched Sputnik II. It carried the first living thing in space a dog named Laika.The US was going crazy on how Russia has passed them in technology. Almost two years later the US made the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The USSR kept on making successful launches in may 1958 they launch Sputnik III which carried 2 thousand pounds to space. In April 1961 the USSR launched the Vostok I it had the first man to orbit the Earth his name was Yuri Gagarin. A month later the US had the first American to go to space his name was Alan Shepard.
She had to calculate the path and speed Alan Shepherd had to go in order to reach space. On May of 1961, just one month after the Russians sent their first man in space, Alan Shepard went up to space. Now, our second mission is to send someone to orbit Earth.
Seven years later on July 20th 1969 a US rocket landed 238,900 miles from Earth, containing the first men to ever set foot on moon. The space race lasted over ten years and resulted in many scientific achievements for both
Apollo 13 was the seventh attempted mission to go to the moon for the third time in April 11th 1970. The men who were assigned to that mission were Jim Lovell Fred Haise and Ken Mattingly. However Ken Mattingly got diagnosed with the measles, so they had to replace Ken with Jack Swigert who was the backup command module pilot for the Odyssey.
The Apollo 11 mission was one of the most significant events in the space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. after the USSR launched Sputnik, the first satellite, and successfully sent a man into space, America rushed to develop the technology that the Soviets already had, prompting the creation of the Apollo program. Apollo 11 was a mission to complete the first manned lunar landing. The mission was considered a great success, and was a win for the United States in the Space Race. The Apollo 11 mission had a crew of three men: Neil Armstrong, the commander, Buzz Aldrin, the lunar module pilot, and Michael Collins, the Command module pilot. All three men had previous experience in space on various Gemini missions. Armstrong
Ever since humanity has been able to look up and view the stars, forever gaining a better view, mankind has desired to go to space. Slowly gaining the ability of mobility, mankind has invented the wheel, then the automobile, and then aircraft. However, what lies in our recent past is the greatest achievement in reaching new frontiers so far - that is, reaching the moon. The Apollo 11 is responsible for accomplishing the basic mission of the Apollo Program; that is, to land two men on the lunar surface and return them safely to earth.
NASA soon responded with the Mercury Missions. These Missions put Americans in orbit and many believe was the real start of the America’s space program. This brought one of the biggest changes to the Nation’s space program. Every tool had to either be built or adapted from another tool to fit the requirement needed. The procedures and systems all had to be redesigned. After the 10 missions, NASA moved on to project Gemini, which concentrated on learning the skills to be able to descend onto the lunar surface. This included docking in space and performing EVAs, or extra vehicular activities, more commonly known as a space walks.