Susan Helms, a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, describes the importance of military service in maintaining our freedom and preserving all those values that we Americans hold dear. NASA has chosen 22 contractors for the first phase of their Space Launch Initiative , the plan for the next-generation manned spacecraft . May 2001 - The Soyuz capsule carrying Dennis Tito and two cosmonauts is now safe on the ground in Kazakhstan . The Soyuz capsule containing Dennis Tito and cosmonauts Talgat Musabayev and Yuri Baturin has undocked from Space Station Alpha, and is heading toward a parachute landing on Earth. Today In Space History - Forty years ago today , the first American astronaut blasted into space.
Attendance is free.
The conference will be broadcast on NASA Television. Follow the link for more about Shepard's historic flight. Shepard would walk on the Moon 10 years later, as part of Apollo 14. May 2001 - Yesterday's Space Day event featured talks from former astronaut John Glenn and current astronauts Tom Jones and Wendy Lawrence .