Alan Shepard

Hello! My name is Alan Shepard, and I was one of the first people to fly into space. I was born in a small town in New Hampshire on November 18th, 1923. Ever since I was a boy, I loved airplanes. I would build model planes and ride my bicycle to the nearby airfield just to watch them take off and land. When I grew up, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I became a pilot in the U.S. Navy, flying planes from giant aircraft carriers.

One day in 1959, something amazing happened. A new group called NASA was looking for pilots to become America's first astronauts. They wanted people who were brave, smart, and great at flying. I was so excited when I was chosen to be one of just seven men for this special job! We were called the Mercury Seven. We trained very hard to get ready to fly in a brand-new kind of spacecraft: a rocket!

My big day came on May 5th, 1961. I climbed into a tiny capsule named Freedom 7, which sat on top of a powerful rocket. The countdown started... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF! The rocket rumbled and pushed me faster and faster into the sky. Soon, I was weightless, floating high above the Earth. I looked out the window and saw our beautiful blue and white planet. I was the very first American to travel into space! My trip was short, only about 15 minutes long, but it showed everyone that we could do it.

My space adventures weren't over. Ten years later, in 1971, I got to go back to space on a mission called Apollo 14. This time, I wasn't just going above the Earth—I was going all the way to the Moon! I became the fifth person to ever walk on the Moon's dusty surface. It was an incredible feeling to bounce around in the low gravity. For a little fun, I even hit two golf balls up there. They flew for a very, very long time in the Moon's airless sky!

I lived a very exciting life full of adventure. I lived to be 75 years old. People remember me as the first American in space and one of the few people to ever walk on the Moon. I hope my story inspires you to look up at the stars and dream about what amazing things you can do, too.