Shepard: 1st American in Space
Get writing ideas and topics with the Genealogy.com Biography Assistant
Alan Shepard made his historic flight in May of 1961. Was he/she fascinated by space exploration? Pick this Topic to help you record his/her reaction to this mission and interest in America's space adventures.
Was he/she interested in the effort to explore space that was begun by the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries in the 1960's?
- On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard Jr. completed a 15 minute rocket trip that made him the first American ever in space. How did he/she hear about the event?
- How did he/she feel when he/she learned that the Americans had made their first successful space flight?
- Shepard was almost the first man in space, but a Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, claimed that honor with a space flight he/she made only 23 days earlier. How did he/she feel about the competition between Soviet and American space programs? Did he/she think that space would ever be used for national defense?
- Throughout the 1960's, NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) prepared and practiced for a trip to the moon. How interested was he/she in the activities of NASA?
- Before this trip into space, did he/she ever think that it would be possible for people to travel in space? Did he/she want to travel in space or did the idea frighten him?
- How far did he/she think that space travel would go? Did he/she think that we would be able to study other planets in-depth? Did he/she think that we would ever discover other forms of life? What about establishing colonies on other planets?