X-Nico

3 unusual facts about Alan Shepard


Hypersonic flight

Soon after, in May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American and second person to achieve hypersonic flight when his capsule reentered the atmosphere at a speed above Mach 5 at the end of his suborbital flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

Race to Space

He wants to lead an exciting life: to be a hero like the astronaut Alan Shepard.

Virginia State Route 172

SR 172 heads east as a four-lane divided highway on the highway named for Alan Shepard, the first American in space.


Moon Shot

Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon is a book written by Mercury Seven astronaut Alan Shepard, with NBC News correspondent Jay Barbree and Associated Press space writer Howard Benedict.

The Pirates of Orion

Writer Howard Weinstein had been a fan of space exploration following the flight of NASA astronaut Alan Shepard on Mercury-Redstone 3.


see also

Mercury 3

Mercury-Redstone 3, The first American manned (sub-orbital) spaceflight, made by astronaut Alan Shepard.

Mercury-Redstone 3

The Mercury-Redstone 3 mission was dramatized in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon episode "Can We Do This?" (starring Ted Levine as Alan Shepard), as well as in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff, and Philip Kaufman's movie The Right Stuff based on the book.