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(meteorobs) Fw: Alan Shepard, First American Astronaut, Dies at 74
Sad news to report.........
>July 22, 1998
>RELEASE: 98-131
>
>ALAN SHEPARD, FIRST AMERICAN ASTRONAUT, DIES AT 74
>
> Alan B. Shepard, Jr., the first American to fly in space and
>one of only 12 humans who walked on the Moon, died Tuesday night
>after a lengthy illness in Monterey, CA. He was 74.
>
> Shepard died at Community Hospital on the Monterey
>Peninsula, according to his family. The cause of death was not
>disclosed. Funeral services are pending.
>
> "The entire NASA family is deeply saddened by the
>passing of Alan Shepard. NASA has lost one of its greatest
>pioneers; America has lost a shining star," said NASA
>Administrator Daniel S. Goldin.
>
> "Alan Shepard will be remembered, always, for his
>accomplishments of the past; being one of the original Mercury
>astronauts, for being the first American to fly in space, and for
>being one of only 12 Americans ever to step on the Moon. He should
>also be remembered as someone who, even in his final days, never
>lost sight of the future," Goldin added.
>
> "On behalf of the space program Alan Shepard helped launch,
>and all those that the space program has and will inspire, we send
>our deepest condolences to his wife, Louise, their children, and
>the rest of the Shepard family.
>
> Alan Shepard lived to explore the heavens. On this final
>journey, we wish him Godspeed."
>
> "Alan Shepard is a true American hero, a pioneer, an
>original. He was part of a courageous corps of astronauts that
>allowed us to reach out into space and venture into the unknown,"
>said George W.S. Abbey, Director of the Johnson Space Center,
>Houston, TX. "Alan Shepard gave all of us the privilege to
>participate in the beginnings of America's great adventure of
>human space exploration. He will be greatly missed. The program
>has lost one of its greatest supporters and a true friend. Our
>thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Louise, and their family."
>
> Named as one of the nation's original seven Mercury
>astronauts in 1959, Shepard became the first to carry America's
>banner into space on May 5, 1961, riding a Redstone rocket on a
>15-minute suborbital flight that took him and his Freedom 7
>Mercury capsule 115 miles in altitude and 302 miles downrange from
>Cape Canaveral, FL.
>
> His flight followed by three weeks the launch of Soviet
>cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who on April 12, 1961, became the first
>human space traveler on a one-orbit flight lasting 108 minutes.
>
> Although the flight of Freedom 7 was brief, it nevertheless
>was a major step forward for the U.S. in a rapidly-accelerating
>race with the Soviet Union for dominance in the new arena of
>space.
>
> Buoyed by the overwhelming response to Shepard's flight, which
>made the astronaut an instant hero and a household name, President
>John F. Kennedy set the nation on a course to the Moon, declaring
>before a joint session of Congress just three weeks later, "I
>believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal,
>before the decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and
>returning him safely to the Earth."
>
> Over a three and a half year period from July 1969 to December
>1972, a dozen Americans explored the lunar surface. Shepard was
>the fifth man to walk on the Moon, and the oldest, at the age of
>47.
>
> Shepard, however, was almost bypassed for a trip to the moon.
>He had to overcome an inner ear problem called Meuniere's syndrome
>that grounded him for several years following his initial
>pioneering flight.
>
> An operation eventually cured the problem and Shepard was
>named to command the Apollo 14 mission. On January 31, 1971,
>Shepard, Command Module pilot Stuart Roosa and Lunar Module pilot
>Edgar Mitchell embarked for the Moon atop a Saturn 5 rocket.
>Shepard and Mitchell landed the lunar module Antares on February 5
>in the Fra Mauro highlands while Roosa orbited overhead in the
>command ship Kitty Hawk.
>
> Shepard planted his feet on the lunar surface a few hours
>later, declaring, "Al is on the surface, and it's been a long way,
>but we're here." During two excursions on the surface totaling
>nine hours, Shepard and Mitchell set up a science station,
>collected 92 pounds of rocks and gathered soil samples from the
>mountainous region.
>
> Near the end of the second moonwalk, and just before entering
>the lunar module for the last time, Shepard (an avid golfer) hit two
>golf balls with a makeshift club. The first landed in a nearby
>crater. The second was hit squarely, and in the one-sixth gravity
>of the moon, Shepard said it traveled "miles and miles and miles."
>
> Shepard's death leaves only four survivors among the original
>Mercury 7 astronauts: Sen. John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon
>Cooper and Walter Schirra.
>
> Born Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. on Nov. 18, 1923, in East
>Derry, NH, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from the
>United States Naval Academy in 1944. Upon graduation, he married
>Louise Brewer, whom he met while at Annapolis. Shepard received
>his wings as a Naval aviator in 1947 and served several tours
>aboard aircraft carriers. In 1950, he attended Naval Test Pilot
>School at Patuxent River, MDS, and became a test pilot and
>instructor there. He later attended the Naval War College at
>Newport, RI, and after graduating, was assigned to the staff of
>the commander-in-chief, Atlantic Fleet, as an aircraft readiness
>officer.
>
> In August 1974, Shepard, then a rear admiral, retired from
>both NASA and the Navy and became chairman of Marathon
>Construction Corp. in Houston. He later founded his own business
>company, Seven Fourteen Enterprises, named for his two missions on
>Freedom 7 and Apollo 14.
>
> In 1984, he and the other surviving Mercury astronauts, along
>with Betty Grissom, the widow of astronaut Virgil I. (Gus)
>Grissom, founded the Mercury Seven Foundation to raise money for
>scholarships for science and engineering students in college. In
>1995, the organization was renamed the Astronaut Scholarship
>Foundation. Shepard was elected president and chairman of the
>foundation, posts he held until October 1997, when he turned over
>both positions to former astronaut James A. Lovell.
>
> Survivors include his widow, Louise, daughters Julie, Laura
>and Alice and six grandchildren.
>
> The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be
>made to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, 6225 Vectorspace
>Boulevard, Titusville, FL, 32780.
>
> - end -
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