Those were the words Alan Shepard used 60 years ago Wednesday to note his cockpit timepiece had begun running. This meant his Redstone rocket booster had left the ground sending him and his one-man ...

As NASA fought to catch up to the Soviet Union in the space race, they selected a Navy veteran as the first astronaut. But ...

Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America’s first space traveler. Shepard made a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard Mercury capsule Freedom 7. Gray Media, parent company of WDBJ7, is celebrating ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. On May 5, 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to go to space. He launched from Cape Canaveral on a Mercury ...

Tuesday marks 65 years since New Hampshire native Alan Shepard became the first American to travel to space.

On April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduced its first group of astronauts to the world. Known as the “Mercury 7,” these seven men were chosen to lead Project ...

In May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, a short suborbital mission that proved humans could survive launch, weightlessness, and reentry. Behind the calm headlines was Project ...

In the late 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a Space Race. The Soviets had already taken an early lead by launching the first satellite, Sputnik, in 1957. Just weeks before ...

A Milestone Anniversary of Discovery! On May 5, 2026, Americans will celebrate the 10th anniversary of National Astronaut Day.

Did you know many people who conserve aviation and space artifacts for the National Air and Space Museum have art conservation degrees? In fact, there are many different degrees you can study if you ...