The 5th of May!
What should be an American Holiday...
May 5th, 1961, Navy Commander Alan Shepard Jr. became the first American in Space when he was rocketed aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule. The 15 minute suborbital flight got him to an altitude of 16 miles above the earth and was a major victory for the still young NASA program, as well as the United States.
It was this flight that renewed American faith in the space program that had been behind the times a bit with Russia beating us into space by a mere 3 weeks. It was that renewed faith, inspired by the bravery of Alan Shepard that put us on track to be the first to land on the moon in July of 1969.
On February 5th, 1971, Alan Shepard became the 5th American astronaut to walk on the moon.
I'll be celebrating an AMERICAN hero tonight. I'll be celebrating the bravery of Alan Shepard. Not some Mexican victory over the French. And I won't be drinking any margaritas.
I may have to go buy "The Right Stuff" on DVD and watch it tonight. If you haven't seen that movie, you need to. It's awesome.
May 5th, 1961, Navy Commander Alan Shepard Jr. became the first American in Space when he was rocketed aboard the Freedom 7 space capsule. The 15 minute suborbital flight got him to an altitude of 16 miles above the earth and was a major victory for the still young NASA program, as well as the United States.
It was this flight that renewed American faith in the space program that had been behind the times a bit with Russia beating us into space by a mere 3 weeks. It was that renewed faith, inspired by the bravery of Alan Shepard that put us on track to be the first to land on the moon in July of 1969.
On February 5th, 1971, Alan Shepard became the 5th American astronaut to walk on the moon.
I'll be celebrating an AMERICAN hero tonight. I'll be celebrating the bravery of Alan Shepard. Not some Mexican victory over the French. And I won't be drinking any margaritas.
I may have to go buy "The Right Stuff" on DVD and watch it tonight. If you haven't seen that movie, you need to. It's awesome.
posted by Goose at 12:03
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