AMERICA PUTS A MAN INTO SPACE
Cape Canaveral (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy set the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The first step toward that goal was taken on May 5, 1961 when Alan B. Shepard, Jr.* was launched aboard Freedom 7 from Launch Complex 5 here at the Cape.
Commander Shepard, the first American to fly in space, was launched atop a REDSTONE ROCKET and completed a suborbital flight lasting fifteen minutes. Freedom 7 traveled 116 miles into the Earth's atmosphere.
On May 8th, JFK presented NASA's Distinguished Service Medal to Shepard in the Rose Garden at the White House. During the presentation, the President said...
"His flight...was an outstanding contribution to the advancement of human knowledge & space technology, and a demonstration of man's capabilities in sub-orbital space flight."
*Alan B. Shepard, Jr. (1923-1998) was born in Derry, NH to Lt. Col. ABS Sr. and Renza Shepard. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1944 and served in WWII. Afterwards he earned his Naval Aviator wings. ABS graduated from the Naval War College in 1957.
SOURCES
"NASA, Space Community Remembers 'Freedom 7," May 5, 2011, www.nasa.gov/
"Remarks at the Presentation of NASA's Distinguished Service Medal to Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, May 8, 1961." Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, 1962.
Cape Canaveral (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy set the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The first step toward that goal was taken on May 5, 1961 when Alan B. Shepard, Jr.* was launched aboard Freedom 7 from Launch Complex 5 here at the Cape.
Commander Shepard, the first American to fly in space, was launched atop a REDSTONE ROCKET and completed a suborbital flight lasting fifteen minutes. Freedom 7 traveled 116 miles into the Earth's atmosphere.
On May 8th, JFK presented NASA's Distinguished Service Medal to Shepard in the Rose Garden at the White House. During the presentation, the President said...
"His flight...was an outstanding contribution to the advancement of human knowledge & space technology, and a demonstration of man's capabilities in sub-orbital space flight."
*Alan B. Shepard, Jr. (1923-1998) was born in Derry, NH to Lt. Col. ABS Sr. and Renza Shepard. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1944 and served in WWII. Afterwards he earned his Naval Aviator wings. ABS graduated from the Naval War College in 1957.
SOURCES
"NASA, Space Community Remembers 'Freedom 7," May 5, 2011, www.nasa.gov/
"Remarks at the Presentation of NASA's Distinguished Service Medal to Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, May 8, 1961." Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, 1962.
JFK Pins Medal on Alan Shepard
NASA Photo (May 8, 1961)
