Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard (November 18, 1923 - July 21, 1998)^[2] was an American astronaut. He was the first American to travel into space. He was born in East Derry, New Hampshire.^[2] He received a Bachelor of Science at Naval Academy in 1944, graduated at Naval Testpilot School in 1951 and he earned a Master of Arts at the Naval War College in 1957.

Alan Shepard
Born	Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (1923-11-18)November 18, 1923 Derry, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	July 21, 1998(1998-07-21) (aged 74) Pebble Beach, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Leukemia
Nationality	American
Alma mater	United States Naval Academy (B.Sc., 1944) Naval War College (M.A., 1957)
Occupations	Naval aviator test pilot
Spouse	Louise ​ ​ (m. 1945; died 1998)​
Children	Julie Laura Alice
Parents	Alan Shepard Sr. (father) Pauline Emerson[1] (mother)
Awards	Navy Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Flying Cross Congressional Space Medal of Honor NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2) NASA Exceptional Service Medal
Space career
NASA astronaut
Rank	Rear Admiral, USN
Time in space	9 days 57 minutes
Total EVAs	2
Total EVA time	9 hours 23 minutes
Missions	MR-3, Apollo 14
Mission insignia
Retirement	August 1, 1974

On May 5, 1961, Shepard flew into suborbital space in the Mercury spacecraft. This was powered by a Redstone rocket.^[2]

He made another space flight as spacecraft commander (person in charge) of Apollo 14. This was the third trip to land astronauts on the moon. The trip lasted from January 31 - February 9, 1971.^[2] At the age of 47, he was the oldest person to ever walk on the Moon.

Personal life

In April 5, 1945, Shepard married with Louise.^[3] They also had three children.

Shepard suffered with leukemia in 1996 and died on July 21, 1998 in Pebble Beach, California. His wife died from a heart attack on August 25, 1998.