Description: Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he became the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon, at age 47.A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Shepard saw action with the surface navy during World War II. He became a naval aviator in 1947, and a test pilot in 1950. He was selected as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts in 1959, and in May 1961 he made the first crewed Project Mercury flight, Mercury-Redstone 3, in a spacecraft he named Freedom 7. His craft entered space, but was not capable of achieving orbit. He became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space. In the final stages of Project Mercury, Shepard was scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 10 (MA-10), which was planned as a three-day mission. He named Mercury Spacecraft 15B Freedom 7 II in honor of his first spacecraft, but the mission was canceled.Shepard was designated as the commander of the first crewed Project Gemini mission, but was grounded in October 1963 due to Ménière's disease, an inner-ear ailment that caused episodes of extreme dizziness and nausea. This was surgically corrected in 1968, and in 1971, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission, piloting the Apollo Lunar Module Antares. He was the only one of the Mercury Seven astronauts to walk on the Moon. During the mission, he hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.Shepard was Chief of the Astronaut Office from November 1963 to August 1969 (the approximate period of his grounding), and from June 1971 until April 30, 1974. On August 25, 1971, he was promoted to rear admiral, the first astronaut to reach that rank. He retired from the United States Navy and NASA on July 31, 1974. You may have done business with me a few years ago as CAL10PILOT with over 1300 positive feedback ratings. I had been a member since 1998. I have over 3000 aviation and space related items. I am just now getting back up and running on eBay for the third and last time. I hope it works out. If you are looking for early pioneers like the Wright Brothers, the early test pilots, pioneers of the space race, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo/Soyuz,Apollo Skylab, or STS covers, photos or flown medallions, there is a chance I have something you would be interested in. Check out my items for sale and place me in your favorites. .
Price: 175 USD
Location: Denver, Colorado
End Time: 2024-11-10T19:00:32.000Z
Shipping Cost: 7 USD
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All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Industry: Space
Signed: Yes
Autograph Authentication: MICHAEL CHENAULT
