Editing Alan Shepard (section)

{{Short description|American astronaut and lunar explorer (1923–1998)}}
{{other uses|Alan Shepard (disambiguation)}}
{{featured article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox astronaut
| image = Business suit portrait of Al Shepard.jpg
| alt = Shepard stands behind a chair wearing a blue suit. In the background is an American flag.
| caption = Shepard in 1971
| birth_name = Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date|1923|11|18}}
| birth_place = [[Derry, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1998|7|21|1923|11|18}}
| death_place = [[Pebble Beach, California]], U.S.
| spouse = {{marriage|Louise Brewer|1945}}
| children = 2
| relatives = [[Annie Bartlett Shepard]] (grandmother)
| education = [[United States Naval Academy]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>[[Naval War College]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
| awards = {{plainlist|
*[[Distinguished Service Medal (US Navy)|Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]
*[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]
*[[Congressional Space Medal of Honor]]
*[[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]] (2)
*[[NASA Exceptional Service Medal]]}}
| type = [[NASA astronaut]]
| rank = [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]], [[United States Navy|USN]]
| time = 9d 0h 16m
| selection = [[Mercury Seven|NASA Group 1 (1959)]]
| eva1 = 2
| eva2 = 9h 23m
| mission = {{ubl|[[Mercury-Redstone 3]]|[[Apollo 14]]}}
| insignia = [[File:Mercury 3 - Patch.png|50px|alt=The circular patch depicts a Mercury capsule and a map of Florida, indicating the ballistic path of the capsule into the Atlantic Ocean. The words say: "Mercury 3 – Shepard – Freedom 7"]] [[File:Apollo 14-insignia.png|50px|alt=The circular patch depicts the Earth and the Moon. An astronaut lapel pin leaves a comet trail from the liftoff point on Earth. Around it is the logo "Apollo 14 – Shepard Roosa Mitchell"]]
| retirement = July 31, 1974
}}
'''Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr.''' (November 18, 1923&nbsp;– July 21, 1998) was an American [[astronaut]]. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he became the [[List of Apollo astronauts#Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon|fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon]], at age 47.

A graduate of the [[United States Naval Academy]] at [[Annapolis]], Shepard saw action with the surface navy during [[World War II]]. He became a naval aviator in 1947, and a test pilot in 1950. He was selected as one of the original [[NASA]] [[Mercury Seven]] astronauts in 1959, and in May 1961 he made the first crewed [[Project Mercury]] flight, [[Mercury-Redstone 3]], in a spacecraft he named ''[[Freedom 7]]''. His craft entered space, but was not capable of achieving [[orbit]]. He became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space. In the final stages of [[Project Mercury]], Shepard was scheduled to pilot the [[Mercury-Atlas 10]] (MA-10), which was planned as a three-day mission. He named Mercury Spacecraft 15B ''Freedom 7 II'' in honor of his first spacecraft, but the mission was canceled.

Shepard was designated as the commander of the first crewed [[Project Gemini]] mission, but was grounded in October 1963 due to [[Ménière's disease]], an inner-ear ailment that caused episodes of extreme dizziness and nausea. This was surgically corrected in 1968, and in 1971, Shepard commanded the [[Apollo 14]] mission, piloting the [[Apollo Lunar Module]] ''Antares''. He was the only one of the Mercury Seven astronauts to walk on the Moon. During the mission, he hit two [[golf ball]]s on the [[lunar surface]].

Shepard was [[Chief of the Astronaut Office]] from November 1963 to August 1969 (the approximate period of his grounding), and from June 1971 until April 30, 1974. On August 25, 1971, he was promoted to [[Rear admiral (United States)#Rear admiral|rear admiral]], the first astronaut to reach that rank. He retired from the [[United States Navy]] and [[NASA]] on July 31, 1974.