As one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, Alan Shepard (1923-1998) became the first American in space on May 5, 1961, and a decade later took, with his partner Edgar Mitchell, the longest walk-two miles-on the moon before hitting a golf ball for miles and miles across the lunar landscape.
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On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, and the space race was born. Desperate to beat the Russians into space, NASA put together a crew of the nation's most daring test pilots: the seven men who were to lead America to the moon. The firs... SEE MORE