Alan Bartlet "Al" Shepard Jr.(English) Alan Bartlett "Al" Shepard, Jr. ; November 18, Derry, pc. New Hampshire, USA - July 21, Monterey County, pc. California, USA) - American astronaut, Rear Admiral of the US Navy. First American to complete a suborbital space flight. Second space flight Shepard performed as commander of the Apollo 14 spacecraft, whose lander landed on the surface of the Moon.

Education

In 1941, Alan graduated from the Naval College Admiral Farragut Academy ( English). In 1944 he received his bachelor's degree natural sciences at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Navy test pilot career

In 1944, Shepard became a Navy officer. His first assignment was the destroyer Cogswell. Cogswell) sent to the Pacific Ocean during World War II. After the war ended, Shepard began training as a naval pilot, first in Corpus Christi and then in Pensacola. He was awarded the title of pilot in 1947. In this capacity, Shepard served with the 42nd Fighter Squadron at Norfolk and Jacksonville. Several times aboard aircraft carriers, he advanced to the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1950, Shepard entered the Patuxent Naval Test Pilot School. After graduation, he participated in flight tests and work to obtain data on illumination and structure. air masses over the territory of North America, as well as in experiments to develop an air refueling system for the US Navy. Shepard participated in the tests of the carrier-based F2H-3 "Benshee" fighter and the first American corner deck for launches from an aircraft carrier. After his appointment as an operations officer in the night fighter unit of the 193rd Fighter Squadron at Moffett Field (Eng. Moffett Field; California), Alan Shepard made two exits in western part Pacific Ocean aboard the USS Oriskani.

Returning to Patuxent again, Shepard actively participated in flight tests of the carrier-based fighter F3H "Demon", F8U "Crusader", F4D "Skyray", F11F "Tiger", was appointed test pilot of the F5D "Skylancer" all-weather carrier-based fighter being created. For five months, Shepard served as an instructor at the test pilot school. Later, he entered the military maritime college in Newport (Rhode Island), after which in 1957 he was appointed to the staff of the commander of the Atlantic Fleet as an aircraft training officer.

He had more than 8000 flight hours, 3700 of them on jet aircraft.

astronaut career

Shepard was preparing as Gordon Cooper's understudy for the Mercury-Atlas-9 flight. Shepard's next flight was to be the three-day flight Mercury-Atlas-10 (Freedom-7-II), scheduled for October 1963, but on June 13, 1963 it was canceled.

After the cancellation of the Mercury-Atlas-10 flight, Shepard was selected as commander and pilot for the first launch of the new spaceship"Gemini". The co-pilot was to be Thomas Stafford. Alan began training, but in early 1964, doctors discovered that he had Meniere's disease (an ear disease that disrupts the functioning of the vestibular apparatus), which led to his suspension from flying almost until the end of the 60s. The place of the planned Gemini 3 crew was taken by Virgil Grissom and John Young.

After successful operation on the ear cavity and restoration of flight status Shepard returned to active training for new flights.
At the age of 47, by then NASA's oldest astronaut, Alan Shepard completed his second space flight as commander of Apollo 14, which was the third successful American expedition to the moon (January 31 - February 9, 1971).

Later years

In 1971, Alan Shepard was a delegate to the UN General Assembly. In 1971, he received his PhD from the University of Miami. Miami University) (Oxford, Ohio), and in 1972 - a doctorate humanities from Franklin Pierce College Franklin Pierce College).

In 1994, together with two journalists, he published a book Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon("Flight to the moon: Inner history American moon race"). The 1994 edition of the book contains a collage of several photographs showing Shepard hitting a golf ball on the Moon (in reality, this episode was filmed only on a TV camera, and the quality of this shooting is much worse). The book was made into a television miniseries in 1994.

Awards

He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service and Exceptional Achievement Gold Medals, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the de Laveau Medal, and the Langley Medal.

The new wing of the planetarium in the city of Concord is named in his honor. suborbital ship New Shepard built by the American company Blue Origin.

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Excerpt characterizing Shepard, Alan

And instead of all this, here he is, the rich husband of an unfaithful wife, a retired chamberlain who loves to eat, drink and, unbuttoned, easily scold the government, a member of the Moscow English club and everyone's favorite member of Moscow society. For a long time he could not reconcile himself to the idea that he was that same retired Moscow chamberlain, whose type he so deeply despised seven years ago.
Sometimes he comforted himself with the thought that this was the only way, for the time being, he was leading this life; but then he was horrified by another thought, that for the time being, so many people had already entered this life and this club with all their teeth and hair, like him, and left without one tooth and hair.
In moments of pride, when he thought about his position, it seemed to him that he was completely different, special from those retired chamberlains whom he had despised before, that they were vulgar and stupid, pleased and reassured by their position, “and even now I am still dissatisfied I still want to do something for humanity,” he said to himself in moments of pride. “And maybe all those comrades of mine, just like me, fought, looked for some new, their own path in life, and just like me, by the force of the situation, society, breed, that elemental force against which there is no powerful man, they were brought to the same place as I, ”he said to himself in moments of modesty, and after living in Moscow for some time, he no longer despised, but began to love, respect and pity, as well as himself, his comrades by fate .
On Pierre, as before, they did not find moments of despair, blues and disgust for life; but the same illness, which had previously expressed itself in sharp attacks, was driven inside and did not leave him for a moment. "For what? What for? What is going on in the world?” he asked himself in bewilderment several times a day, involuntarily beginning to ponder the meaning of the phenomena of life; but knowing by experience that there were no answers to these questions, he hurriedly tried to turn away from them, took up a book, or hurried to the club, or to Apollon Nikolaevich to chat about city gossip.
“Elena Vasilievna, who never loved anything except her body and one of the most stupid women in the world,” thought Pierre, “appears to people as the height of intelligence and refinement, and they bow before her. Napoleon Bonaparte was despised by everyone as long as he was great, and since he became a miserable comedian, Emperor Franz has been trying to offer him his daughter as an illegitimate wife. The Spaniards send prayers to God through the Catholic clergy in gratitude for having defeated the French on June 14th, and the French send prayers through the same Catholic clergy that they defeated the Spaniards on June 14th. My brother Masons swear by their blood that they are ready to sacrifice everything for their neighbor, and do not pay one ruble each for the collection of the poor and intrigue Astraeus against the Seekers of Manna, and fuss about a real Scottish carpet and about an act, the meaning of which does not know even the one who wrote it, and which no one needs. We all profess the Christian law of forgiveness of offenses and love for our neighbor - the law as a result of which we erected forty forty churches in Moscow, and yesterday we whipped a man who had run away with a whip, and the minister of the same law of love and forgiveness, the priest, gave the soldier a cross to kiss before execution " . So thought Pierre, and this whole, common, universally recognized lie, no matter how he got used to it, as if something new, every time amazed him. I understand the lies and confusion, he thought, but how can I tell them everything I understand? I tried and always found that they, in the depths of their souls, understand the same thing as I do, but they just try not to see her. It has become so necessary! But me, where do I go?” thought Pierre. He tested the unfortunate ability of many, especially Russian people, the ability to see and believe in the possibility of good and truth, and to see the evil and lies of life too clearly in order to be able to take a serious part in it. Every field of labor in his eyes was connected with evil and deceit. Whatever he tried to be, whatever he undertook, evil and lies repelled him and blocked all the paths of his activity. And meanwhile it was necessary to live, it was necessary to be busy. It was too terrible to be under the yoke of these insoluble questions of life, and he gave himself up to his first hobbies, only to forget them. He went to all sorts of societies, drank a lot, bought paintings and built, and most importantly read.
He read and read everything that came to hand, and read so that when he arrived home, when the lackeys were still undressing him, he, having already taken a book, read - and from reading he went to sleep, and from sleep to chatter in the drawing rooms and the club, from chatter to revelry and women, from revelry back to chatter, reading and wine. Drinking wine for him became more and more of a physical and at the same time a moral need. Despite the fact that the doctors told him that with his corpulence, wine was dangerous for him, he drank a lot. He felt quite well only when he, without noticing how, overturning in his big mouth a few glasses of wine, felt a pleasant warmth in the body, tenderness for all his neighbors and the readiness of the mind to superficially respond to every thought, without delving into its essence. Only after drinking a bottle and two wines did he vaguely realize that the intricate, terrible knot of life that had terrified him before was not as terrible as he thought. With a noise in his head, chatting, listening to conversations or reading after lunch and dinner, he constantly saw this knot, some side of it. But only under the influence of wine did he say to himself: “This is nothing. I will unravel this - here I have an explanation ready. But now there’s no time—I’ll think it over later!” But that never came after.
On an empty stomach, in the morning, all the previous questions seemed just as insoluble and terrible, and Pierre hurriedly grabbed a book and rejoiced when someone came to him.
Sometimes Pierre recalled a story he had heard about how soldiers in the war, being under fire in cover, when they had nothing to do, diligently find an occupation for themselves in order to more easily endure the danger. And to Pierre, all people seemed to be such soldiers fleeing life: some with ambition, some with cards, some with writing laws, some with women, some with toys, some with horses, some with politics, some with hunting, some with wine, some state affairs. “There is nothing insignificant or important, it doesn’t matter: if only I can save myself from it as best I can!” thought Pierre. - "If only not to see her, this terrible her."

At the beginning of winter, Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky and his daughter arrived in Moscow. In his past, in his intelligence and originality, especially in the weakening at that time of enthusiasm for the reign of Emperor Alexander, and in that anti-French and patriotic trend that reigned at that time in Moscow, Prince Nikolai Andreevich immediately became an object of special reverence for Muscovites and the center of the Moscow opposition to the government.
The prince has grown very old this year. Sharp signs of old age appeared in him: unexpected falling asleep, forgetfulness of the nearest events and memory of long-standing ones, and the childish vanity with which he assumed the role of the head of the Moscow opposition. Despite the fact that when the old man, especially in the evenings, went out to tea in his fur coat and powdered wig, and, touched by someone, began his abrupt stories about the past, or even more abrupt and sharp judgments about the present, he aroused in all his guests the same sense of respect. For visitors, all this old house with huge dressing tables, pre-revolutionary furniture, these lackeys in powder, and the last century himself, a tough and intelligent old man with his meek daughter and pretty Frenchwoman, who were in awe of him, presented a majestically pleasant sight. But the visitors did not think that in addition to these two three hours, during which they saw the owners, there were another 22 hours a day, during which there was a secret inner life at home.
AT recent times in Moscow, this inner life became very difficult for Princess Marya. She was deprived in Moscow of those of her best joys - conversations with God's people and solitude - which refreshed her in the Bald Mountains, and did not have any benefits and joys of metropolitan life. She did not go out into the world; everyone knew that her father would not let her go without him, and he himself could not travel due to ill health, and she was no longer invited to dinners and evenings. Princess Marya completely abandoned hope for marriage. She saw the coldness and bitterness with which Prince Nikolai Andreevich received and sent away young people who could be suitors, who sometimes came to their house. Princess Marya had no friends: on this visit to Moscow, she was disappointed in her two closest people. M lle Bourienne, with whom she could not be completely frank before, now became unpleasant to her and for some reason she began to move away from her. Julie, who was in Moscow and to whom Princess Mary wrote for five years in a row, turned out to be a complete stranger to her when Princess Mary again met with her personally. Julie at this time, on the occasion of the death of her brothers, having become one of the richest brides in Moscow, was in the midst of social pleasures. She was surrounded by young people who, as she thought, suddenly appreciated her dignity. Julie was in that period of an aging socialite who feels that her last chance of marriage has come, and now or never her fate must be decided. Princess Mary, with a sad smile, recalled on Thursdays that now she had no one to write to, since Julie, Julie, from whose presence she had no joy, was here and saw her every week. She, like an old emigrant who refused to marry the lady with whom he spent several years of his evenings, regretted that Julie was here and she had no one to write to. Princess Mary in Moscow had no one to talk to, no one to believe her grief, and much new grief has been added during this time. The deadline for the return of Prince Andrei and his marriage was approaching, and his order to prepare his father for that was not only not fulfilled, but the matter, on the contrary, seemed to be completely spoiled, and the reminder of Countess Rostova pissed off the old prince, and so already most time of the former is not in the spirit. A new grief that has recently been added for Princess Marya was the lessons that she gave to her six-year-old nephew. In her relations with Nikolushka, she recognized with horror in herself the quality of her father's irritability. How many times she told herself that she should not allow herself to get excited while teaching her nephew, almost every time she sat down with a pointer at the French alphabet, she so wanted to quickly, easily pour her knowledge out of herself into a child who was already afraid that here was her aunt she would be angry that, at the slightest inattention on the part of the boy, she shuddered, hurried, got excited, raised her voice, sometimes pulled his hand and put him in a corner. Putting him in a corner, she herself began to weep over her evil, bad nature, and Nikolushka, imitating her sobs, would leave the corner without permission, come up to her and pull her wet hands away from her face, and console her. But more, more than anything else, the Princess was irritated by her father's irritability, which was always directed against her daughter and had recently reached the point of cruelty. If he had forced her to bow down all night, if he had beaten her, forced her to carry firewood and water, it would never have occurred to her that her situation was difficult; but this loving tormentor, the most cruel because he loved and for that he tormented himself and her, deliberately knew how not only to insult and humiliate her, but also to prove to her that she was always and in everything to blame. Recently, it has appeared new feature, which tormented Princess Mary most of all - this was his greater rapprochement with m lle Bourienne. The thought that came to him, in the first minute after receiving the news of his son’s intention, was the joke that if Andrei marries, then he himself marries Bourienne, apparently liked him, and with stubbornness lately (as it seemed to Princess Mary) only in order to offend her, he showed a special kindness to m lle Bourienne and showed his displeasure to his daughter by showing love to Bourienne.

First US astronaut. Born November 18, 1923 in East Derry (New Hampshire, USA) in the family of a banker. Also in school years He became interested in aviation and studied at the school of pilots. After graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1944, he took part in World War II (US operations on pacific ocean). AT

From 1950 to 1953 and from 1955 to 1957 he worked at the Naval Test Pilot School. In 1958 he graduated Naval college. attended civil flight school. Since 1959 he has been a member of the NASA cosmonaut group. May 5, 1961 for the first time in the United States made a suborbital space flight on the spacecraft "Mer

cury" (MP-3), which lasted 15 minutes 22 seconds. In 1963, due to health problems (middle ear infection), he was temporarily suspended from flight training. He was again allowed to train on May 7, 1969. From January 31 to 9 February 1971, together with Edgar MITCHELL and Stuart ROOSA, made

years to the moon as commander of the Apollo 14 spacecraft. The lunar cabin, with Alan SHEPARD and Stuart ROOSA, landed on the Moon near the Fra Mauro crater on February 5, 1971. Alan Shepard spent 33 hours and 30 minutes on the moon, including two exits to its surface ( total time 9 hours 23 minutes).

The flight lasted 9 days 1 minute 57 seconds. For two flights into space, he flew 9 days 17 minutes 19 seconds. Alan Shepard until 1974 was the commander of a group of American cosmonauts at the L. Johnson Manned Flight Center in Houston (Texas, USA). Awarded with NASA Gold Medals "Z

a Distinguished Service" and "For Exceptional Service", Medal of Honor U.S. Congress on Astronautics, the de Laveau Medal (FAI), the Langley Medal - the highest award Smithsonian Institution, Lambert and Kinchlu Prizes. Member of the American Astronautical Society, Society of Test Pilots.

Honorary Citizen of the City of Cincinnati (USA). In 1974, he retired from NASA astronauts. From 1974 to 1994 he was President of Windward Co. (Deer Park, Texas, USA). Later he founded his own company Seven Fourteen Enterprises (Houston, Texas, USA). In 1984, together with

other astronauts who were trained under the Mercury program, founded the Mercury Seven Foundation, whose main task was to raise money for the development higher education in the USA. In 1995, the foundation was renamed the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, with Alan SHEPARD as its president. AT

Are Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong. Representative Soviet Union first flew into space and returned alive, and the United States - landed on the moon.

However, Armstrong is not the first American astronaut. They are considered a completely different person. His biography, career and mission will be discussed in the article.

Preparation for the selection of astronauts

It is no secret that both powers were the main competitors in the issue of space exploration. In the USA, this problem was dealt with at the Langley Research Center. However, in addition to the design and commissioning of the spacecraft, it was necessary to form a detachment of astronauts.

Preparations for this began in November 1958. The first detachment of US astronauts had to be selected in several stages. At first, they wanted to select one hundred and fifty candidates, gradually weeding out people from this group based on the results of medical and psychological tests as well as nine months of training. As a result of the selection, six astronauts were to remain.

A significant interference in the search for candidates was the decision of the president who saw the best applicants only among test pilots. From among them, they began to choose.

Astronauts' Choice

By the beginning of 1959, selection began. The specialists were guided by the following criteria:

• height - up to 180 cm;
• perfect physical condition;
• age - up to forty years;
• education - technical (bachelor);
• special education - test pilot;
• flight experience - at least one and a half thousand hours.

According to these criteria, NASA representatives selected 110 applicants, of which a group of 36 people was selected for further tests. To undergo a thorough medical and psychological examination 32 candidates agreed. One of them was eliminated, so 31 pilots arrived at the Research Center. Further choice turned out to be very difficult. In the end, the experts selected not six, but seven people for the flight.

The pilots were named astronauts, and their names were officially announced on 04/09/1959. Among them was the first American astronaut.

First Seven with Alan Shepard

All astronauts were family men with engineering education, in excellent physical form. Their age ranged from 32 to 37 years.

List of the first seven with military rank:

• John Glenn - lieutenant colonel.
• Gordon Cooper, Virgil Grissom, Donald Slayton - captains.
• Alan Shepard, Walter Schirra - First Lieutenants.
• Scott Carpenter - Lt.

Among them was the one who will be awarded the title of "the first American cosmonaut." Men began to prepare for the flight first at the base research center in Virginia, then - in Houston (Texas). Each representative of the seven had its own specialization. Main character Article was trained to work in rescue and tracking systems.

Shepard's education

Alan was born on 11/18/1923 in the city of Derry. At the age of 36, he became one of seven astronauts chosen by NASA to fly into space. Much of this was due to his education.

Future astronaut Alan Shepard at one time graduated from the Admiral Farragut Academy College, Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree, Naval College.

Pilot career

After receiving a bachelor's degree, Alan Shepard became a Navy officer. At this time, the Second World War, so he was assigned to a destroyer and sent to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1947, he received the rank of pilot and was sent to serve in a fighter squadron. In 1950, the pilot entered the test school. After completing his training, he took part in flight tests, including experiments to develop an aerial refueling system. Within five months future cosmonaut was an instructor for test pilots.

Before becoming an astronaut, Shepard had over 8,000 flight hours, of which 3,700 were spent in jet aircraft.

astronaut career

The first American astronaut was one of the seven applicants who were chosen by NASA in 1959. They were preparing for the Mercury program. His professionalism and high personal qualities allowed him to be the first of the US representatives to reach space and fly to the moon.

He made his first flight in 1961. The journey was short, but so necessary for the United States of America. The capsule ship was called "Freedom-7".

Later, the astronaut was trained as an understudy for G. Cooper on the Atlas-9 mission. In 1963, he was supposed to fly on the Atlas-10. The flight was supposed to last three days, but it was cancelled. After that, the astronaut was chosen as the first pilot on the Gemini spacecraft. Starting training, he passed medical examination, as a result of which he was diagnosed with an ear disease that disrupted the activity vestibular apparatus. Due to Meniere's illness, he was suspended from flying for several years.

In order to return to flight training, Shepard had to undergo ear surgery. It was successful, and the astronaut returned to active work.

As a forty-seven-year-old pilot, NASA's oldest astronaut at the time, Alan made his second space flight in his life. He was appointed commander of Apollo 14. He made the third successful US expedition to the moon. This happened between January 31 and February 9, 1971.

"Mercury-Redstone" with Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard's first flight under the Mercury program successful launch manned spacecraft. It was launched by the Redstone-3 launch vehicle. The capsule was able to rise to a height of 186 km and sank into the waters of the Atlantic polygon of the United States. This place turned out to be at a distance of 486 km from the original starting point.

Unlike the flight of Yuri Gagarin, who managed to orbit the Earth, on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard only reached space, spending just over fifteen minutes in flight. He became the second person in the world to reach such heights.

Flight goals

The main task of the United States was to get ahead of other countries in space exploration, especially the USSR. The Mercury program assumed the fulfillment of certain goals. The launch of the Mercury-Redstone-3 system, on which Shepard was located, was successful.

The main objectives of the flight:

• Gaining manned experience spacecraft during launch, active flight, weightlessness, as well as reentry into the atmosphere and landing.
• Evaluation of the pilot's ability to control the spacecraft, voice communication during the flight.
• The study of human reaction to flight in space, primarily physiological.
• The possibility of landing an astronaut and a ship.

Life as an astronaut after retirement

At the end of his flying career, Alan Shepard, whose biography is discussed in the article, was engaged in social activities. In 1971 he became a delegate to the UN Assembly. At the same time, he received his doctorate in natural sciences and the humanities.

At the end of the 20th century, together with two journalists, the famous astronaut published the book Flight to the Moon. Based on her motives, a television series was immediately created.

Shepard died on July 21, 1998 at the age of seventy-five. The cause of death was prolonged illness- leukemia. Five weeks later, his wife Louise also died. Their bodies were cremated and their ashes scattered over the sea.

Interesting facts about the astronaut and his flight

The project, in which Alan took part, was called "Mercury". The name was chosen in honor of the ancient Roman mythological creature, who was the messenger of the gods and the patron of trade. In Washington, the name of the project was approved on 12/10/1958.

Selected for space flights applicants were called astronauts. The name was chosen by analogy with the Argonauts, who in ancient Greek mythology sailed for the "Golden Fleece", and aeronauts, that is, aeronauts.

Before the flight, Alan was put on a strict diet. He was prepared by a personal chef. For example, breakfast consisted of orange juice, semolina, scrambled eggs, strawberry jam, coffee with sugar. The list of dishes has changed. The cook prepared one serving for the astronaut, and kept the second in the refrigerator for a day in case he had problems with the digestive tract.

A day before the flight, coffee was removed from the menu due to its diuretic and stimulating effect.

Before launch, the astronaut said to himself, "Don't screw it up, Shepard." Funds mass media it was supplemented a little by mentioning the words about God. Since that time, many pilots have said this “prayer”.

The pilot boarded the capsule ship at 5:15, but the flight took place only two and a half hours later. The reasons for the delay were technical hitches and the appearance of cloudiness, which would have prevented good shots Earth from space. The ship started at 09:34. He was watched by 45 million viewers in the United States of America.

The first attempts to reach space were not always successful. It is very difficult to foresee all the nuances. So, NASA, selecting the most worthy candidates for the flight, did not take into account their normal physiological needs. That is, in the spaceship there was no way to relieve the need. Because of this, Shepard had to do it in a suit right during the flight.

Alan Shepard (1923 - 1998) is an outstanding figure in the history of American and world space exploration.

Shepard is known somewhat less than the recognized symbols of the beginning space age- Gagarin and Neil Armstrong. However, Shepard's merits are in no way inferior to their merits.

Why is Alan Shepard famous?

• First, this is the very first American cosmonaut (astronaut), along with six other members of the team, selected in 1959
• Secondly, this is the first person to make a suborbital space flight.
• Thirdly, he led the crew of the Apollo 14 spacecraft, which made the third landing on the moon.

Biography

Alan Shepard first received maritime education- Graduated from the Naval College and then the US Naval Academy. His early career therefore, she was associated with the position of a naval pilot. He distinguished himself in this capacity during the Second World War.

After the end of hostilities, Shepard was also known as an accomplished pilot and aviation instructor. Here are the qualities that Alan Shepard possessed by 1959:

• His height is 180 cm;
• Technical education;
• Profession - test pilot;
• Age less than 40 years (36);
• At least 1500 hours of flight experience;
• Excellent physical shape.

All this is a list of criteria by which NASA selected candidates for the first astronauts. Shepard matched them perfectly. This is what defined him. further fate. Only seven people, including Shepard, were selected from 110 applicants.

The first flight

Alan Shepard made his first flight on the Mercury in 1961. The flight lasted just over 15 minutes, but it was perceived as an exceptional breakthrough.

In the same year with Soviet side flew into space and Yuri Gagarin. Shepard's flight had its own characteristics compared to Gagarin's:

• Shepard flew out almost a month later, on May 5;
• He spent only 15 minutes in space, while Gagarin spent almost 2 hours;
• At the same time, however, Shepard had the opportunity to control the ship, while Gagarin's apparatus was fully automated (this was also done to avoid unwanted piloting of the ship by an astronaut if he suddenly "goes crazy" in space).

Shepard's ship was not equipped with a toilet, so he had to pee in his flight suit.

"Shepard's Prayer"

Gagarin before the start said his famous "Let's go!". There was such a phrase in Shepard, who said: "God, don't let me screw up!". The phrase became popular in the media and became known as "Shepard's Prayer" and was repeated by many other astronauts before their flight. True, later the first astronaut himself in his biography claimed that he said a little differently: “Well, Shepard, don’t screw it up!”.

Later career

Subsequently, Alan Shepard made several more flights; other flights were canceled different circumstances. For example, he was diagnosed with an ear disease that disrupted the vestibular apparatus, as a result of which Shepard was suspended from flying for several years. The ear was operated on, and the astronaut returned to flying again.

Last years

After completing his space career, Alan Shepard worked on social activities. In particular, he wrote books and starred in films and programs. AT last years Shepard was diagnosed with leukemia. From this disease, he died in 1998 on July 21. A few days later, his wife Louise also died. The ashes of the spouses were cremated.

Symbolism

First space flight American space agency surrounded by symbols designed to show the exceptional significance of this event:

• The project was called "Mercury" - in honor of the ancient messenger of the gods and patron of trade;
• Shepard's capsule was called Freedom-7, that is, "Freedom";
• Calling the flight participants "astronauts" (like the Soviet "cosmonauts" and later Chinese "teikunauts"), the authors of the project used a reference to the argonauts - ancient Greek travelers who set sail for the Golden Fleece.

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Well, when any historical event equipped with cameras from different angles, so that later you can see how what happened. Even better, when the event is not very long, so that the chronicle does not become boring. According to these two parameters, the first American space flight on May 5, 1961 turns out to be clearer than Gagarin's flight - there were two cameras on Mercury-Redstone 3, one of which filmed the astronaut, and the second - the instrument panel. And the fact that the flight was suborbital meant that it would last only fifteen minutes, in contrast to Gagarin's relatively long orbital flight of 108 minutes. Astronautics enthusiasts even made several videos with the reconstruction of this flight. And to the one that I liked more, I added Russian subtitles.

The Flight of Mercury-Redstone 3

The Mercury-Redstone 3 mission is the first U.S. manned suborbital spaceflight and the world's first suborbital manned spaceflight. It took place on May 5, 1961 and lasted only 15 minutes. Pilot - Alan Shepard.

"Mercury" - single, made according to the scheme of a truncated cone. In the narrow part of the ship there were parachutes (brake, main and reserve), horizon sensors, an emergency hatch. In the central part of the ship there was an astronaut, instruments and tanks of expendable components - hydrogen peroxide for the orientation system, helium for pressurization, oxygen for breathing. Outside the wide side of the ship was an air landing dam, a heat shield (beryllium for suborbital flights, fiberglass for orbital flights), and a bunch of jettisonable retro-jet engines. The ship had a length of 3.3 m, a diameter of 1.8 m, and a mass of up to 1400 kg. The insufficient carrying capacity of American rockets led to the fact that the Mercury was very small and cramped, the internal volume was only 1.7 m ^ 3, and the astronauts said that they did not "sit down" in the capsule, but "put it on themselves."

"Redstone", the full name "Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle" is a PGM-11 Redstone IRBM modified for manned flights, a direct descendant of the V-2, developed by the team of Wernher von Braun. In the combat version, the rocket carried a thermonuclear warhead, space variants were used to launch the first US satellite and other space programs. Launch weight up to 30 tons, diameter 1.78 m, length 25.4 m.

Alan Bartlet Shepard, Jr., born November 18, 1923, died July 21, 1998. Graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, served on a destroyer during World War II. After the war, he became a pilot, became a test pilot, and in 1959 became one of the seven US astronauts of the first set. Height 180 cm, weight 77 kg.

Mission progress

Initially, the launch was scheduled for May 2. Shepard and his backups Grissom and Glenn woke up at one in the morning, had breakfast and waited for the team to leave for the start. But because of weather conditions start cancelled. The second attempt was made on 5 May. Shepard took his place in the ship two hours before launch, at 5:15 am ET. At 7 am, the launch was delayed for an hour due to cloudiness - the clouds interfered with the observations of the rocket, and it was necessary clear sky for observations of the Earth's surface. Then the inverter overheated, and the excess pressure in the oxygen tank had to be bled off. The launch was delayed by two hours. There was a problem that neither the engineers nor the doctors thought about - for the flight, which was supposed to last only fifteen minutes, no one thought about the sanitary and hygienic needs of the astronaut. Simply put, there was no urinal in the suit. The four-plus hours of waiting in the rocket, not counting travel time and so on, meant that the first American astronaut had to empty his bladder into a spacesuit at the risk of a short circuit. But nothing bad happened. Shepard was humorous about the situation, calling himself a "wet back" and urging the Mission Control Center to "solve your problems and finally light this candle." As a result, the start took place at 9:34 ET. start at live watched from 45 to 70 million people, in other words, all of America. Classes were stopped in schools, institutions stopped working, even traffic stopped - everyone was watching the jump into space.

The flight plan was scheduled literally in seconds, and it included the following experiments:
Manual orientation. Shepard tested the possibility and convenience of orientation along three axes - pitch, roll and yaw.
Surface observation. Through the periscope, Shepard observed the Earth and reported that the Earth can be seen well, can be recognized big lakes, islands and other elements of the landscape.
Rocket observations. shouldn't have been far, but Shepard didn't see her anyway. However, the Mercury had a very poor view, so this did not surprise anyone.
Observations. Shepard had to observe the stars/planets through a viewing window. Unfortunately, due to the strong background light, he could not see anything. Attempts to see the stars led to the fact that he was somewhat behind schedule, and for the first time, according to his own recollection, he became nervous.

Faults:
During the flight, only one noticeable malfunction occurred - the TDU reset sensor failed. There was an option on the dashboard to reset the operation - by pressing a button to inform the system that the operation had taken place, which Shepard took advantage of.
Wolfe's book "The Right Stuff" states that Shepard forgot to remove the brightness-reducing filter from the periscope before launch, and did not dare to remove it afterwards, so he saw a black-and-white low-contrast image through the periscope and not quite sincerely told the mission control center "What a beautiful view ". But I did not find confirmation of this information from other sources, the reliability of this is unknown.