The story of how the first American went to space

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

From Alan Shepard to Artemis, celebrating 65 years of Americans in space

On the morning of May 5th, 1961, 37-year-old Alan Shepard woke up, ate a breakfast (consisting of a filet mignon wrapped in ...
WDBJ

This Day in History: Alan B. Shepard becomes first American in space

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 ...
cerebral-overload

Building on America’s 65-Year Legacy of Human Spaceflight

On the morning of May 5, 1961, the Mercury-Redstone 3 launch vehicle lifted into the sky from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. Over the next 15 minutes, Shepard ascended ...