83K views · 4.7K reactions | “What a beautiful view.” Alan Shepard...

#OTD in 1961, Naval aviator Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space. Graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1944, Shepard became one of the Mercury Seven astronauts in 1959. He would walk on the moon in 1971 as commander of Apollo 14. #NationalAstronautDay | U.S. Naval Institute

On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space. abc7.la/1rsNsTt | ABC7

On this day in history, Alan Shepard launched aboard a Mercury capsule to become the first American in space. This 15-minute suborbital journey in 1961 led to big plans for human spaceflight, including the goal to send humans to the Moon. https://go.nasa.gov/3eiRcCO | NASA's Johnson Space Center

24K views · 1.4K reactions | ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:  On this day in history -- on May 5, 1961 -- Derry's Alan Shepard became the first American in space, a moment that was a first big step in the long history of U.S. exploration of space: https://bit.ly/3eTlnQ0 | WMUR-TV | Facebook