Alan Shepard

Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was a United States Navy rear admiral, test pilot, and astronaut. He became the first American to travel into space on the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission (Freedom 7) on May 5, 1961, and later walked on the Moon as commander of Apollo 14 in February 1971, becoming the fifth person to walk on the lunar surface. Shepard logged a total of 9 days, 3 hours, 13 minutes, and 17 seconds of flight time over two missions. After retiring from NASA and the Navy, he served as a consultant and remained active in aerospace advocacy until his death in 1998. He received numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.