I was a third grader at Leal School, looking forward to my summer vacation. Back then, we had heroes like Mantle and Mays and Maris and a gentleman by the name of Alan Shepard who, on May 5th 1961, made history…. Here’s the actual 1961 report from the Beeb…
1961: Shepard becomes first US astronaut
Commander Alan Shepard has been recovered from his space capsule in the Atlantic after becoming the first American in space.
Three weeks ago, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly into space.
This morning, 37-year-old Cdr Shepard of the US Navy was launched into sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral in Florida in a Mercury 3 capsule attached to a Redstone rocket.
He travelled 115 miles into space and landed in the Atlantic just 15 minutes later. His first words after he was picked up by a helicopter were: “Boy, what a ride!”
President Kennedy telephoned to congratulate the astronaut a few minutes after he was flown to aircraft carrier Lake Champlain.
In a veiled reference to last month’s achievement by the USSR’s space programme, the president said: “This is an historic milestone in our own exploration into space. But America still needs to work with the utmost speed and vigour in the further development of our space programme.”
During the flight, Cdr Shepard maintained constant communication with ground control. He opened his periscope, reported on cloud cover over Florida and North Carolina and commented, “Oh, what a beautiful view.”
As he re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the experienced test pilot was subjected to 11 times the force of gravity and travelled at 5,100mph but managed to report that he was “OK”.
The space capsule, which appears undamaged except for some heat scars, is being returned to Cape Canaveral for examination.
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