Editing Alan Shepard (section)

===''Freedom 7''===
{{Main|Mercury-Redstone 3}}
[[File:Alan Shepard in capsule aboard Freedom 7 before launch.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Shepard in the ''[[Mercury-Redstone 3|Freedom 7]]'' capsule before launch |alt=Shepard in his Mercury space suit and helmet, with tubes connected.]]
Faced with intense competition from the other astronauts, particularly [[John Glenn]], Shepard quit smoking and adopted Glenn's habit of taking a morning jog.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=262–269}} On January 19, 1961, Gilruth informed the seven astronauts that Shepard had been chosen for the first American crewed mission into space.{{sfn|Shepard & Slayton|1994|pp=76–79}} Shepard later recalled Louise's response when he told her that she had her arms around the man who would be the first man in space: "Who let a Russian in here?"<ref>{{cite journal |last=Shepard |first=Alan |journal=[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]] |date=July–August 1994 |volume=45 |issue=4 |issn=0002-8738 |title=First Step to the Moon |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/first-step-moon |access-date=March 6, 2016 |archive-date=November 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107030954/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/first-step-moon |url-status=live }}</ref> During training he flew 120 simulated flights.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=343}} Although this flight was originally scheduled for April 26, 1960,{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=141}} it was postponed several times by unplanned preparatory work, initially to December 5, 1960, then mid-January 1961,{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=263}} March 6, 1961,{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=342}} April 25, 1961,{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=324}} May 2, 1961, and finally to May 5, 1961.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=350}} On April 12, 1961, Soviet [[cosmonaut]] [[Yuri Gagarin]] became the first person in space, and the first to orbit the Earth.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|pp=332–333}} It was another body blow to American pride.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=342}} When Shepard heard the news he slammed his fist down on a table so hard a NASA public relations officer feared he might have broken his hand.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|p=282}}

On May 5, 1961, Shepard piloted the [[Mercury-Redstone 3]] mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space.{{sfn|Burgess|2014|pp=99–100}} He named his spacecraft, Mercury Spacecraft 7, ''Freedom 7''.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=342}} He awoke at 01:10, and had breakfast consisting of orange juice, a filet mignon wrapped in bacon, and scrambled eggs with his backup, [[John Glenn]], and flight surgeon [[William K. Douglas]]. He was helped into his space suit by suit technician [[Joseph W. Schmitt]], and boarded the transfer van at 03:55. He ascended the gantry at 05:15, and entered the spacecraft five minutes later. It was expected that liftoff would occur in another two hours and five minutes,{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=351}} so Shepard's suit did not have any provision for elimination of bodily wastes, but after being strapped into the capsule's seat, launch delays kept him in that suit for over four hours.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=341}} Shepard's endurance gave out before launch, and he was forced to [[Urination#Voiding phase|empty his bladder]] into the suit. Medical sensors attached to it to track the astronaut's condition in flight were turned off to avoid shorting them out. The urine pooled in the small of his back, where it was absorbed by his undergarment.{{sfn|Burgess|2014|pp=131–134}}{{sfn|Shepard & Slayton|1994|p=107}} After Shepard's flight, the space suit was modified, and by the time of [[Gus Grissom]]'s [[Mercury-Redstone 4]] suborbital flight in July, a liquid waste collection feature had been built into the suit.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=368}}

Unlike Gagarin's 108-minute [[orbital flight]] in a [[Vostok (spacecraft)|Vostok]] spacecraft three times the size of ''Freedom 7'',{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|pp=332–333}} Shepard stayed on a [[sub-orbital spaceflight|suborbital]] trajectory for the 15-minute flight, which reached an altitude of {{convert|101.2|nmi|smi km|abbr=off|sp=us}}, and then fell to a [[splashdown]] {{convert|263.1|nmi|smi km|abbr=off|sp=us}} down the [[Eastern Range|Atlantic Missile Range]].{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|pp=352–357}} Unlike Gagarin, whose flight was strictly automatic, Shepard had some control of ''Freedom 7'', spacecraft [[Spacecraft attitude control|attitude]] in particular.{{sfn|Burgess|2014|p=147}} Shepard's launch was seen live on television by millions.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|pp=360–361}} It was launched atop a [[Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle|Redstone rocket]]. According to [[Gene Kranz]] in his 2000 book ''[[Failure Is Not an Option]]'', "When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, 'The fact that every part of this ship was built by the lowest bidder.{{'"}}{{sfn|Kranz|2000|pp=200–201}}

[[File:Alan Shepard 1961.jpg|thumb|right|Marine Corps [[HUS-1]] helicopter from [[HMR-262]] retrieves ''Freedom 7'' from the Atlantic.|alt=A green helicopter hovers low over the water, with the Mercury capsule suspended below. The helicopter has "Marines" written on it, and the number "44"]]
After a dramatic Atlantic Ocean recovery, Shepard observed that he "didn't really feel the flight was a success until the recovery had been successfully completed. It's not the fall that hurts; it's the sudden stop."<ref>{{cite web |title=Events of 1961: U.S. in Space |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/Audio/Events-of-1961/U.S.-in-Space/ |work=[[United Press International]] |year=1961 |access-date=April 18, 2011 |archive-date=August 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811103945/http://www.upi.com/Archives/Audio/Events-of-1961/U.S.-in-Space/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Splashdown occurred with an impact comparable to landing a jet aircraft on an aircraft carrier. A recovery helicopter arrived after a few minutes, and the capsule was lifted partly out of the water to allow Shepard to leave by the main hatch. He squeezed out of the door and into a sling hoist, and was pulled into the helicopter, which flew both the astronaut and spacecraft to the aircraft carrier {{USS|Lake Champlain|CV-39|6}}. The whole recovery process took just eleven minutes.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|pp=356–357}} Shepard was celebrated as a national hero, honored with ticker-tape parades in Washington, New York and Los Angeles, and received the [[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]] from President [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite AV media |year=1961 |title=As World Watched. Spaceman Hailed After U.S. Triumph, 1961/05/08 (1961) |medium=Motion picture |url=https://archive.org/details/1961-05-08_As_World_Watched |access-date=February 20, 2012 |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel|Universal-International Newsreel]] |oclc=709678549}}</ref> He was also awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]].<ref name="valor">{{cite web |url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=56428 |title=Valor awards for Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. |work=Military Times |access-date=March 7, 2016 |archive-date=August 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811104020/http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=56428 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Shepard served as [[capsule communicator]] (CAPCOM) for Glenn's [[Mercury-Atlas 6]] orbital flight, which he had also been considered for,{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=319–322}} and Carpenter's [[Mercury-Atlas 7]].{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=328–330}} He was the backup pilot for Cooper for the [[Mercury-Atlas 9]] mission,{{sfn|Burgess|2014|pp=236–237}} nearly replacing Cooper after Cooper flew low over the NASA administration building at Cape Canaveral in an [[F-102]].{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=338–339}} 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.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=492}} He named Mercury Spacecraft 15B ''Freedom 7 II'' in honor of his first spacecraft, and had the name painted on it,<ref name="40th">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/40thmerc7/shepard.htm |title=Alan B. Shepard Jr. |access-date=November 3, 2009 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041103035606/https://history.nasa.gov/40thmerc7/shepard.htm |archive-date=November 3, 2004}}</ref> but on June 12, 1963, NASA Administrator [[James E. Webb]] announced that Mercury had accomplished all its goals and no more missions would be flown.{{sfn|Swenson|Grimwood|Alexander|1966|p=492}} Shepard went as far as making a personal appeal to President Kennedy, but to no avail.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=344–345}}