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Apollo 14 of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) from 1971
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Shepard Flies Freedom 7
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Shepard Flies Freedom 7 |
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Forty years ago today (May 5, 1961 [ http://www.thespaceplace.com/history/mercury/ mercury03.html ]), at the dawn of the space age [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/ index.html ], NASA controllers "lit the candle" and sent Alan Shepard arcing into space atop a Redstone rocket [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980404.html ]. The picture shows the pressure-suited Shepard before launch in his cramped space capsule [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/ mercury.html ] dubbed "Freedom 7" [ http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/MR3/ 10073523.htm ]. Broadcast live to a global television audience, the flight of Freedom 7 [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/attm/nojs/rm.ey.f7.1.html ] - the first space flight by an American - followed less than a month after the first human venture into space by Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010414.html ]. Freedom 7's historic flight [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/40thmerc7/ intro.htm ] was suborbital, lasting only about 15 minutes, but during it Shepard demonstrated manual control of his capsule. Naval aviator [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/40thmerc7/ shepard.htm ] Shepard was chosen as one of the original seven Mercury Program [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/ toc.htm ] astronauts. He considered this first flight [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/ch11-4.htm ] the greatest challenge and actively sought the assignment. Shepard's career as an astronaut spanned a remarkable period in human achievement and in 1971 he walked on the moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a14/ a14.crew.html ] as commander of the Apollo 14 mission. A true pioneer and intrepid explorer, Alan Shepard died in 1998 [ http://www.nasa.gov/shepard.html ] at age 74. |
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Apollo 14 on the Moon
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Apollo 14 on the Moon |
| Explanation |
The jewel-like glare from a brilliant sun reflects off the lunar module of the Apollo 14 [ http://www.c3.lanl.gov/~cjhamil/SolarSystem/apo14.htm ] mission to the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950903.html ] as it rests on the lunar surface in February 1971. Astronauts Alan Shepard [ http://tigger.uic.edu/~jph/abs.htm ] and Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon's surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950922.html ] while astronaut Stuart Roosa piloted the orbiting command module. Coming only months after the abortive Apollo 13 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950707.html ] mission, Apollo 14 [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/ ] was famous for long exploratory moon walks, collecting samples of lunar bedrock from Cone Crater, deploying the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, and hitting golf balls [ http://ees5-www.lanl.gov/APOLLO/a14.clsout2.html ]. The slope rising to the rim of Cone Crater is visible at the left edge of the photo. |
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