Alan Shepard Alan Bartlett Shepard , Jr . ( November 18 , 1923 – July 21 , 1998 ) was an American naval aviator , test pilot , flag officer , NASA astronaut , and businessman , who in 1961 became the second person , and the first American , to travel into space . This Mercury flight was designed to enter space , but not to achieve orbit . Ten years later , at age 47 the oldest astronaut in the program , Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission , piloting the lander to the most accurate landing of the Apollo missions . He became the fifth person to walk on the Moon , and the only astronaut of the Mercury Seven to walk on the Moon . During the mission he hit two golf balls on the lunar surface . These were his only two space flights , as his flight status was interrupted for five years ( 1964 – 69 ) during the Mercury and Gemini programs by Ménière ' s disease , an inner - ear disease that was surgically corrected before his Moon flight . Shepard served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from November 1963 – July 1969 ( approximately the period of his grounding ) , and from June 1971 – August 1 , 1974 , ( from his last flight , to his retirement ) . He was promoted from Captain to Rear Admiral on August 25 , 1971 . He retired from the United States Navy and NASA in 1974 . After leaving NASA he became a successful businessman . He died of leukemia in 1998 , five weeks before the death of his wife of 53 years . They were survived by their three daughters . Biography . Shepard was born in Derry , New Hampshire , to Lieutenant Colonel Alan B . Shepard , Sr . and Renza ( " née " Emerson ) Shepard . He attended primary and secondary schools in East Derry and Derry , including Pinkerton Academy . As a young boy , after helping to clean an aircraft hangar , he was given his first flying lesson by Arnold Sidney Butler , a local owner and operator of the Daniel Webster airport . He graduated from the Admiral Farragut Academy with the class of 1941 . He was one of many famous descendants of " Mayflower " passenger Richard Warren . Naval career . Shepard began his naval career after graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1944 , and served on the destroyer USS " Cogswell " while it was deployed in the Pacific Ocean during World War II . He subsequently entered flight training at Corpus Christi , Texas , and Pensacola , Florida , and received his Naval Aviator wings in 1947 . He was assigned to Fighter Squadron 42 ( VF - 42 ) based at Norfolk , Virginia , and Jacksonville , Florida , and served several tours aboard aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea with the squadron . In 1950 , he attended the United States Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland . After graduation , he participated in flight test work which included high - altitude tests to obtain data on light at different altitudes and on a variety of air masses over the American continent ; test and development experiments of the Navy ' s in - flight refueling system ; carrier suitability trials of the F2H - 3 Banshee ; and Navy trials of the first angled carrier deck . He was subsequently assigned to Fighter Squadron 193 ( VF - 193 ) based at Moffett Field , California , a night fighter unit flying Banshee jets . As operations officer of this squadron , he made two tours to the western Pacific on board the carrier USS " Oriskany " . Shepard returned to Patuxent for a second tour of duty and engaged in flight testing the F3H Demon , F8U Crusader , F4D Skyray , and F11F Tiger . He was also project test pilot on the F5D Skylancer , and his last five months at Patuxent were spent as an instructor in the Test Pilot School . He later attended the Naval War College at Newport , Rhode Island , and upon graduating with a Master of Arts degree in 1957 , was assigned to the staff of the Commander - in - Chief , Atlantic Fleet , as aircraft readiness officer . He logged more than 8 , 000 hours flying time , 3 , 700 hours in jet aircraft . NASA career . Mercury : " Freedom 7 " pilot . In 1959 , Shepard was one of 110 military test pilots invited by the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration to volunteer for the first US manned space flight program ] ] . Following a gruelling series of physical and psychological tests , NASA selected Shepard to be one of the original group of seven Mercury astronauts . [ [ File : Alan Shepard in capsule aboard Freedom 7 before launch . jpg | thumb | left | Shepard in the " [ [ Mercury - Redstone 3 | Freedom 7 " capsule before launch ] ] In January 1961 , Shepard was chosen for the first American manned mission into space . Although the flight was originally scheduled for October 1960 , delays by unplanned preparatory work meant that this was postponed several times , initially to March 6 , 1961 , and finally to May 5 . On April 12 , 1961 , [ [ Soviet Union | Soviet ] ] [ [ Astronaut # Russian | cosmonaut ] ] [ [ Yuri Gagarin ] ] had become the first person in space and to orbit the Earth . On May 5 , 1961 , Shepard piloted the " [ [ Mercury - Redstone 3 | Freedom 7 ] ] " mission and became the second person , and the first American , to travel into space . " He was launched by a [ [ Mercury - Redstone Launch Vehicle | Redstone rocket ] ] , and unlike Gagarin ' s 108 - minute orbital flight , Shepard stayed on a ballistic trajectory — a 15 - minute [ [ suborbital flight ] ] which carried him to an altitude of and to a splashdown point down the [ [ Eastern Range | Atlantic Missile Range ] ] . Unlike Gagarin , whose flight was strictly automatic , Shepard had some control of " Freedom 7 " , spacecraft [ [ aircraft principal axes | attitude ] ] in particular . The launch was seen live on television by millions . Shortly before the launch , Shepard said to himself : " Don ' t fuck up , Shepard . . . " According to [ [ Gene Kranz ] ] in his book , " [ [ Failure Is Not an Option ] ] " , " When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket , waiting for liftoff , he had replied , ' The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder . ' " [ [ File : Freedom 7 and Shepard In flight - GPN - 2000 - 001011 . jpg | right | thumb | 250px | Shepard during " Freedom 7 " flight on May 5 , 1961 ] ] After a dramatic Atlantic Ocean recovery , Commander Shepard observed , " … didn ' t really feel the flight was a success until the recovery had been successfully completed . It ' s not the fall that hurts ; it ' s the sudden stop . " After his successful return , Shepard was celebrated as a national hero , honored with parades in Washington , New York and Los Angeles and received the [ [ NASA Distinguished Service Medal ] ] from President [ [ John F . Kennedy ] ] . Later , he was scheduled to pilot the [ [ Mercury - Atlas 10 ] ] " Freedom 7 - II " three - day extended duration mission in October 1963 . The MA - 10 mission was cancelled on June 13 , 1963 . He was the back - up pilot for [ [ Gordon Cooper | Gordon " Gordo " Cooper ] ] for the [ [ Mercury - Atlas 9 ] ] mission . Gemini : Chief astronaut . After the Mercury - Atlas 10 mission was cancelled , Shepard was designated as the command pilot of the first manned Project Gemini mission . [ [ Thomas P . Stafford ] ] was chosen as his co - pilot . In early 1964 , Shepard was diagnosed with Ménière ' s disease , a condition in which fluid pressure builds up in the inner ear . This syndrome causes the semicircular canals and motion detectors to become extremely sensitive , resulting in disorientation , dizziness , and nausea . The condition caused him to be removed from flight status for most of the 1960s ( [ [ Gus Grissom ] ] and [ [ John Young ( astronaut ) | John Young ] ] were assigned to Gemini 3 instead ) . Also in 1963 , he was designated [ [ Chief of the Astronaut Office ] ] with responsibility for monitoring the coordination , scheduling , and control of all activities involving NASA astronauts . This included monitoring the development and implementation of effective training programs to assure the flight readiness of personnel for crew assignments on manned space flights ; furnishing pilot evaluations applicable to the design , construction , and operations of spacecraft systems and related equipment ; and providing qualitative scientific and engineering observations to facilitate overall mission planning , formulation of feasible operational procedures , and selection and conduct of specific experiments for each flight . Apollo : Apollo 14 commander . [ [ File : Apollo 14 Shepard . jpg | right | thumb | Shepard poses next to the [ [ Lunar Flag Assembly | American flag ] ] on the Moon during Apollo 14 ] ] Shepard was restored to full flight status in May 1969 , following corrective surgery ( using a newly developed method ) for Ménière ' s disease . He was originally assigned to command Apollo 13 , but as it was felt he needed more time to train , he and his crewmates ( lunar module pilot [ [ Edgar Mitchell ] ] and command module pilot [ [ Stuart Roosa ] ] ) swapped missions with the then crew of Apollo 14 ( [ [ Jim Lovell | James Lovell ] ] , [ [ Ken Mattingly ] ] , and [ [ Fred Haise ] ] ) . As the oldest astronaut in the program at age 47 , Shepard made his second space flight as commander of Apollo 14 from January 31 – February 9 , 1971 , America ' s third successful [ [ List of lunar astronauts | lunar landing mission ] ] . Shepard piloted the Lunar Module " Antares " to the most accurate landing of the entire Apollo program . This was the first mission to successfully broadcast color television pictures from the surface of the Moon , using a [ [ Video camera tube # Vidicon | vidicon tube ] ] camera . ( The color camera on Apollo 12 provided a few brief moments of color telecasting before it was inadvertently pointed at the Sun , ending its usefulness . ) While on the Moon , Shepard used a Wilson six - iron head attached to a lunar sample scoop handle to drive golf balls . Despite thick gloves and a stiff spacesuit which forced him to swing the club with one hand , Shepard struck two golf balls ; driving the second , as he jokingly put it , " miles and miles and miles . " Following Apollo 14 , Shepard returned to his position as Chief of the Astronaut Office in June 1971 . He was appointed by President [ [ Richard Nixon ] ] in July 1971 as a delegate to the 26th United Nations General Assembly , serving from September to December 1971 . He was promoted to Rear Admiral by Nixon that same year before retiring both from the Navy and NASA on August 1 , 1974 . Later years . After Shepard left NASA , he served on the boards of many corporations . He also served as president of his umbrella company for several business enterprises , Seven Fourteen Enterprises , Inc . ( named for his two flights , " Freedom 7 " and Apollo 14 ) . [ [ File : Alanshephardgrave . jpg | thumb | left | Shepard ' s memorial stone in Derry , New Hampshire ; his ashes were scattered at sea ] ] In 1994 , he published a book with two journalists , [ [ Jay Barbree ] ] and Howard Benedict , called " [ [ Moon Shot | Moon Shot : The Inside Story of America ' s Race to the Moon ] ] " . Fellow Mercury astronaut [ [ Deke Slayton ] ] is also named as an author . The book generated some controversy for use of a staged photo purportedly showing Shepard hitting a golf ball on the Moon . The book was also turned into a TV miniseries in 1994 . Shepard died of leukemia near his home in Pebble Beach , California , on July 21 , 1998 ( the 29th anniversary of the [ [ Apollo 11 # Lunar surface operations | first moonwalk ] ] ) , two years after being diagnosed with that disease . He was the second person to die who had walked on the Moon . His wife of 53 years , Louise Brewer , died five weeks afterward . Both were cremated , and their ashes were scattered together by a Navy helicopter over Stillwater Cove , in front of their Pebble Beach home . They had three daughters , Laura ( born in 1947 ) , Juliana ( born in 1951 ) , and Alice ( born in 1951 ) . Alice was Louise ' s niece , but raised as their own daughter . Shepard also had six grandchildren . Awards and honors . During his life , Shepard was awarded the [ [ Congressional Space Medal of Honor ] ] ( by President [ [ Jimmy Carter ] ] in 1978 for his pioneering Mercury flight ) ; two [ [ NASA Distinguished Service Medal ] ] s ( 1961 and 1971 ) , the [ [ NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal ] ] , [ [ Astronaut Badge | Navy Astronaut Wings ] ] , the [ [ Navy Distinguished Service Medal ] ] , and the [ [ Distinguished Flying Cross ( United States ) | Distinguished Flying Cross ] ] . He received the [ [ Langley Gold Medal ] ] ( highest award of the Smithsonian Institution for aeronautics and astronautics ) on May 5 , 1964 ; the [ [ Lambert trophy ] ] ; the [ [ Iven C . Kincheloe Award ] ] ; the [ [ Cabot Award ] ] ; the [ [ Collier Trophy ] ] ; and the City of New York Gold Medal for 1971 . [ [ File : Alan Sheppard statue . jpg | right | thumb | Statue of Shepard at the [ [ United States Astronaut Hall of Fame ] ] in Titusville , Florida ] ] He was inducted into the [ [ U . S . Astronaut Hall of Fame ] ] on May 11 , 1990 . In Hampton , Virginia , a road is named Commander Shepard Boulevard in his honor . The Navy named a supply ship , [ [ USNS Alan Shepard ( T - AKE - 3 ) | USNS " Alan Shepard " ( T - AKE - 3 ) ] ] , for him in 2006 . A [ [ geodesic dome ] ] was built in his honor in Virginia Beach , Virginia , but was demolished in 1994 . A [ [ PGM - 11 Redstone | Redstone missile ] ] , from which the [ [ Mercury - Redstone Launch Vehicle | Redstone booster ] ] used to launch Shepard aboard " Freedom 7 " was derived , is on display in the [ [ Warren , New Hampshire | Warren ] ] , New Hampshire town square . The [ [ McAuliffe - Shepard Discovery Center ] ] in Concord , New Hampshire is named after Shepard and [ [ Christa McAuliffe ] ] . Interstate 93 in New Hampshire , from the Massachusetts border to its intersection with the [ [ F . E . Everett Turnpike ] ] ( which is also the northern terminus of I - Interstate 293 ) in Hooksett , is named in his honor . It passes through his native Derry ( however with no junctions ) for a short distance before entering Londonderry to the north and Windham to the south . Additionally , I - Interstate 565 in northern Alabama connecting Decatur and Huntsville is officially the Admiral Alan B . Shepard Highway . His hometown of Derry has the nickname Space Town in honor of his career as an astronaut . Following an act of Congress , the post office in Derry is designated the Alan B . Shepard , Jr . Post Office Building . His high school alma mater in Derry , [ [ Pinkerton Academy ] ] , has a building named after him ; and the school team name is the Astros after his career as an astronaut . Alan B . Shepard High School , in [ [ Palos Heights , Illinois | Palos Heights ] ] , Illinois , which opened in 1976 , was named in his honor . Framed newspapers throughout the school depict various accomplishments and milestones in Shepard ' s life . Additionally , an autographed plaque commemorates the dedication of the building . The school newspaper is named " Freedom 7 " and the yearbook is entitled " Odyssey " . Its television news show is called " NASA – News About Shepard Astros " . Other schools that honor his memory include Alan B . Shepard Middle School , [ [ Deerfield , Illinois ] ] ; Alan B . Shepard Middle School , San Antonio , Texas ; Alan B . Shepard Elementary School , [ [ Bourbonnais , Illinois ] ] , Alan B . Shepard Elementary School , [ [ Old Bridge , New Jersey ] ] , and formerly , Alan B . Shepard Elementary School in [ [ Highland Park , Illinois ] ] ( closed ) . Alan Shepard Park in Cocoa Beach , Florida , a beach - side park south of Cape Canaveral , is named in his honor . In a 2010 [ [ Space Foundation ] ] survey , Shepard was ranked as the ninth most popular space hero ( tied with astronauts [ [ Buzz Aldrin ] ] and Gus Grissom ) . In 2011 , NASA honored Shepard with an Ambassador of Exploration Award , consisting of a [ [ Moon rock ] ] encased in [ [ Poly ( methyl methacrylate ) | Lucite ] ] , for his contributions to the U . S . space program . His family members accepted the award on his behalf during a ceremony on April 28 at the [ [ U . S . Naval Academy Museum ] ] in Annapolis , Maryland , where it is on permanent display . On May 4 , 2011 , the U . S . Postal Service issued a first - class stamp in Shepard ' s honor , the first U . S . stamp to depict a specific astronaut . The first day of issue ceremony was held at NASA ' s [ [ Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex ] ] . Shepard Technology Award . Each year , the Space Foundation , in partnership with the Astronauts Memorial Foundation and NASA , present the [ [ Space Foundation # Space Foundation Awards : Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award | Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award ] ] for outstanding contributions by K – 12 educators or district - level administrators to educational technology . The award recognizes excellence in the development and application of technology in the classroom or to the professional development of teachers . The recipient demonstrates exemplary use of technology either to foster lifelong learners or to make the learning process easier . External links . [ [ Category : Congressional Space Medal of Honor recipients ] ] [ [ Category : 1923 births ] ] [ [ Category : 1998 deaths ] ] [ [ Category : 1961 in spaceflight ] ] [ [ Category : 1971 in spaceflight ] ] [ [ Category : American astronauts ] ] [ [ Category : Apollo program astronauts ] ] [ [ Category : People who have walked on the Moon ] ] [ [ Category : United States Navy astronauts ] ] [ [ Category : United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees ] ] [ [ Category : People from Derry , New Hampshire ] ] [ [ Category : American Christian Scientists ] ] [ [ Category : Admiral Farragut Academy alumni ] ] [ [ Category : United States Naval Academy alumni ] ] [ [ Category : United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni ] ] [ [ Category : Naval War College alumni ] ] [ [ Category : United States Navy admirals ] ] [ [ Category : United States Naval Aviators ] ] [ [ Category : American military personnel of World War II ] ] [ [ Category : Cancer deaths in California ] ] [ [ Category : Deaths from leukemia ] ] [ [ Category : Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal ( United States ) ] ] [ [ Category : Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross ( United States ) ] ] [ [ Category : Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal ] ] [ [ Category : Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal ] ] [ [ Category : Collier Trophy recipients ] ] [ [ Category : Recipients of the Langley Medal ] ] [ [ Category : Mercury program astronauts ] ] [ [ Category : Lunar human landing ] ]