Alan Sheppard

Major General Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 - July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviation officer, test pilot, and businessman. He was one of the first seven astronauts of NASA's Mercury Project. In 1961, he carried out the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission and became the first American astronaut to enter space. He was also the second human being to fly in space after Yuri Gagarin. Shepard graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1944. During World War II, he served in the surface forces in the Pacific Theater. He returned to the United States after the war, completed naval aviation training in 1947, and received a test pilot course in 1950, and gradually became one of the Navy's top pilots. In 1959, NASA selected Shepard to be one of the first seven astronauts on the Mercury Project. On May 5, 1961, Shepard participated in the Mercury-Redstone 3, the first manned mission of the Mercury Project, and entered space aboard the "Freedom 7" space capsule. The flight failed to enter geocentric orbit and was a sub-orbital space flight, but it was enough to make him the second human being in space and the first American astronaut to fly in space. During the mission, Shepard manually controlled the flight attitude of the spacecraft in the cabin, the first time in human history to accomplish this feat. In the final stage of the Mercury Project, Shepard was originally scheduled to complete the Mercury-Atlas 10 mission aboard the "Freedom 7 II" space capsule in 1963. It was planned to fly in space for three days, but the mission was eventually cancelled. After the Mercury Project ended, Shepard had the opportunity to become the commander of the first manned mission of the Gemini Project. However, in 1963, he was diagnosed with the inner ear disease Meniere's Syndrome, which caused dizziness, nausea and other symptoms. He was not suitable for participating in space projects and was grounded indefinitely. He was appointed director of the NASA Astronaut Office in November 1963, responsible for astronaut training and mission planning. In 1969, Shepard underwent surgery to regain his flying qualifications and began participating in the Apollo program. In 1971, he became the commander of Apollo 14 and piloted the Antares lunar module to land on the moon. He became the fifth astronaut to land on the moon, the oldest astronaut at the time of the moon landing, and the only one among the seven people of the Mercury Project to land on the moon. He hit two golf balls while on the moon's surface, the first human