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Alan Shepard on the Moon
http://www.mythicalireland.com/astronomy/other/alan-shepard.php
Alan Shepard - first US man in space
A remarkable story of a man who wouldn't give up on his chance to walk on the moon
One of my prized possessions is an autograph, signed simply "To Anthony, Alan Shepard". I keep it very safe. But who was this Alan Shepard, and what was he famous for?
Alan Shepard
Alan Shepard - click for larger photograph. Credit: NASA.
Alan Shepard was supposed to have been on board the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, which as many people will know having seen the movie of the same name starring Tom Hanks, never got to land on the Moon and barely made it back to earth. This story of this remarkable astronaut, who died in 1998, is compelling.
Born in 1923, Shepard hit the world headlines on May 5th, 1961, when he became the first American in space in the tiny Mercury space capsule called Freedom 7. He was one of the original seven astronauts, who have become known as the "Mercury 7".
He was lifted off at 9:34am on that morning and fired 116 miles into the air, travelling 302 miles downrange from Cape Canaveral. He hit a top speed of 5,100 miles per hour before dropping into the Atlantic Ocean. He was only 23 days late - Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin got there before him, but Shepard, and the Americans, would get revenge.
A man full of self-confidence and with nerves of steel, he was to be bitterly disappointed to be taken off the Apollo Moon landing programme when he developed an inner ear infection. However, fate was kind to Shepard - he was originally pencilled in for the Apollo 13 mission which ended in disaster.
Alan Shepard on the Moon
Alan Shepard on the Moon. Click for larger photo. Credit: NASA.
Ten years after his first suborbital history-making flight, Shepard overcame the serious ear infection and returned to space for only his second, and his last, flight as the commander of Apollo 14. He became only the fifth person to walk on the surface of the Moon, and the oldest at 47 years of age.
Shepard spent 33 hours on the moon during the third lunar landing mission and became the only lunar golfer, playfully whacking golf balls with a six-iron. On that flight, Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa spent nine days in space; Mitchell and Shepard stayed on the moon for two days.
The first ball he hit was a bit of an embarrassment, but the second one connected and Shepard endeared himself to millions of golfers, and TV viewers, across the globe with his amusing antics.
He is remembered today as a great man, and a true American hero.
Albanische Flagge in Apollo 14
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diskussion:Alan_Shepard
He is of Albanian origin. He completed the Naval Academy in Anapolis where he completed a flying school for non-military pilots. Later he also completed the Marine School for pilots in Patuxent, Maryland, as well as the Naval School of War in New Port, Rhode Island on 1958. On 1961, the Russian Yuri Gagarin was the World's first man to be lifted into space. He flied in space as a passenger, while Shepard piloted the space craft during the Apolo 14 mission on January-February 1971. As an astronaut, he was the first American to fly in space, and the fifth to have set foot on the Moon. Before retiring, Shepard was promoted to Admiral. He died on 21 July 1998; thus living to the age of 75.
In the same enciclopedia, there was an entry for William Gregory, another Albanian-American astronaut. Gregory was born in Lock-port, New York on 14 May 1957. His origins are from the village of Dardhë in Korçë. On 1979 he graduated as an engineer from the Air Force Academy. He completed his doctorate as a mechanical engineer from Columbia University on 1980 and the doctorate for director (?) on 1984. During the years 1981 - 1986 he was a flying pilot on the FL11. He later served as a pilot instructor on the British Air Force. He has flied on over 40 kinds of airplanes and he has surpassed 5000 hours of flying. He was selected by NASA on January 1990 and he was declared an astronaut on July 1991. He completed his first flight in space of the Shuttle STS-67 on 2 March 1995 from the Kennedy Space Center, and he landed on Earth on 19 March 1995. He set the space flying record with 16 days and 15 hours while completing 262 trips around the Earth. He flied over 11 million km in space, has more than 400 hours of space flying experience alongside his 5000 hours as a pilot. He now works as a directory for the development of business (?) in Arizona, USA. While Shepard has died, we hope to meet Gregory soon. These two names have their own place in the Museum of Nation History and in the memory of Albanians.
