History | History

60 Years Ago, Alan Shepard Became The First American In Space

The passing of Apollo 11's Michael Collins along with the 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard's historic flight reminds us how inspiring exploration can be.

History | History

5 Things You Didn't Know About Alan Shepard

Nov. 18 is Alan Shepard's birthday. HowStuffWorks Now shares some little-known facts about the first American in space.

Science & Technology | Science & Space

Relive Alan Shepard's Harrowing Trip to Space With a View From His Cockpit

53 years ago today, Alan Shepard became the second human to visit space. The first person in space, Russian Yuri Gagarin, completed an orbit of the Earth almost a month before Shepard's 15-minute voyage. Gagarin's craft was fully automated, but Shepard had some control over the Freedom 7...

This might be the coolest thing that YouTube has to offer (and that says a lot). How did I not see this before? You can ride along with Alan Shepard' on his first flight! And...it's only about 14 minutes. This is a childhood Josh's dream come true!