Alan Shepard
1923 - 1998
5
Quotes
Biography
Alan Shepard, Jr. was an American astronaut and the first American to travel into space. Born on November 18, 1923, in East Derry, New Hampshire, Shepard had a distinguished career as a naval aviator before being selected as one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts. On May 5, 1961, he piloted the Freedom 7 spacecraft and made a suborbital flight, reaching an altitude of 116 miles. He later commanded the Apollo 14 mission in 1971, becoming the fifth person to walk on the Moon. Shepard retired from NASA in 1974 and passed away on July 21, 1998, in Pebble Beach, California.
Famous Quotes (5)
1
It’s a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one’s safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract.
2
The first flight of Mercury is history. It’s been a long day but a happy one.
3
If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree.
4
The excitement for me lies not so much in the achievement, but in the way of the adventure.
5
We were finally beginning to learn how to fly a spaceship. Breathing. Turning, Two dimensions, right, left, up, down. Things that pilots do.