NASA Celebrates 60th Anniversary of First American in Space

NASA astronaut Alan Shepard grew to become the primary American to journey to house 60 years in the past on May 5. The house analysis organisation honoured Shepard and his mission with a particular web page on its web site. The yr 1961 was extraordinarily essential because the United States and the Soviet Union — the 2 dominant superpowers on the time — had been locked in a race to ship the primary human to house. With the Soviet Union launching the primary synthetic satellite tv for pc known as Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, it sparked an unexplored frontier in the Cold War — house. NASA was shaped a yr later, and on May 5, 1961, Shepard grew to become the primary American in house throughout a suborbital flight aboard his Mercury capsule, Freedom 7.

On Thursday, NASA shared a photograph of Shephard on Twitter and wrote: “60 years ago today, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to travel in space, climbing 116 miles (188 km) above Earth. Shortly after, President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to a lunar landing before the end of the decade.”

On its web site, NASA said that the US started engaged on Project Mercury in 1958 and chosen its first batch of astronauts a yr later to coach them for the house mission. The Soviet, throughout the identical time, started its personal efforts, in secret, to plan an area mission. They chosen their very own crew of 20 cosmonauts in 1960 and in April 1961, grew to become the primary nation to efficiently execute a human space-lift programme as an element of which cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin accomplished a single orbit across the Earth aboard his Vostok capsule.

A month later, Shepard grew to become the primary American to journey to house. His transient flight proved to be a stepping stone for the US in the realm of house.

NASA says the Space Task Group at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, US, started Project Mercury in 1958 and had three main objectives in thoughts — orbiting a crewed spacecraft, investigating man’s means to perform in house, and safely recovering each spacecraft and crew member.

On May 8, 1961, Shepard arrived on the White House the place President Kennedy offered him with the Distinguished Service Medal, NASA’s highest honour. On May 25, President Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress and stated the United States ought to “commit itself to achieve the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” That dedication, based mostly on the profitable, albeit only a 15-minute suborbital spaceflight, led to Apollo 11’s Moon touchdown on July 20, 1969.

Twitter consumer Dwayne Todd (@DwayneTodd3) recalled that he “was in grade school” when the occasion befell. “When this happened, we were all called into an assembly wherein our principal Thomas J. Ultican (a truly dedicated educator) announced the feat emphasising what a significant event it was,” the consumer wrote on the micro-blogging website.

Another consumer, Jacqueline (@Jacqcaff16), described Shepherd as a “pioneer and a history maker, paving the way for future astronauts.”

Check out some extra reactions to NASA’s tweet: