726801
Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
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Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., 1923-1998. NASA astronaut, 1959-1974; first American in space; fifth man on the moon. Vintage 8” x 10” color lithograph of Shepard, inscribed “To Julian & Ruth Dickenson with appreciation and pleasant memories of the ’64 convention” and signed with a full signature, Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
Shepard was one of the original American astronauts. In 1959, NASA selected him as one of the first seven astronauts in Project Mercury, the United States’ first manned space program.
On May 5, 1961, Shepard, a former Navy pilot, flew the Mercury Freedom 7 spacecraft in a 15-minute, 28-second flight that made him the first American to reach outer space. Freedom 7 was launched at 9:34 a.m. EST atop a Redstone booster into a ballistic trajectory suborbital flight that reached an altitude of 116 miles. It splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean some 302 miles downrange from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and was recovered by the aircraft carrier Lake Champlain. The spacecraft reached a top speed of 5,134 miles per hour.
Shepard flew on the heels of the Soviet Union’s first manned flight by Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who had orbited the Earth 23 days earlier. Shepard made history, however, because he controlled Freedom 7, while Gagarin had been a mere passenger in his spacecraft.
The flight made Shepard a hero overnight. He was honored with parades in Washington, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles. President John F. Kennedy awarded him the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in a White House ceremony.
Shepard was grounded in late 1963 due to an inner ear problem. He stayed with NASA, however, and became Chief of the Astronaut Office. In 1969, after ear surgery, he returned to full flight status and was named commander for the upcoming Apollo 14 flight to the moon.
Apollo 14 was launched on January 31, 1971. Shepard and Edgar D. Mitchell landed the lunar module Antares in the Fra Mauro highlands on February 5 while Stuart A. Roosa orbited overhead in the command module Kitty Hawk. Shepard and Mitchell spent 33½ hours on the moon, walking a little over two miles during two walks, totaling 9 hours 17 minutes, on the surface. Toward the end of the second moonwalk, Shepard, an avid golfer, hit two golf balls with a makeshift club. One of them, Shepard said, went “miles and miles and miles” in gravity 1/6 of that on Earth.
Altogether, Shepard logged a total of 216 hours 57 minutes in space.
Shepard returned to his post as Chief of the Astronaut Office after Apollo 14 and remained there until he retired in 1974. He left the Navy with the rank of Rear Admiral. He died August 25, 1998.
This photograph appears to be an official NASA photo. The backstamp reads “Alan B. Shepard, Jr. / Commander, USN / NASA Astronaut.”
Shepard has inscribed and signed in blue ballpoint pen. The photo has a couple of slight creases, neither of which touches the inscription or signature. Overall it is in very good to fine condition.
Unframed. Please ask us about custom framing this piece.
Click on thumbnails to enlarge.
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