Editing Alan Shepard (section)

===Apollo program===
{{Main|Apollo 14}}
[[File:Apollo14 crew high resolution.jpg|thumb|right|The crew of Apollo 14: [[Edgar Mitchell]], Shepard and [[Stuart Roosa]] |alt=Mitchell, a smiling Shepard and Roosa wearing their Apollo space suits without the helmets. Their suits sport their names, the mission patch on the left breast and NASA patch on the right. The wear the American flag on their left sleeve. Shepard has red rings in his arms. In the background is a giant mission patch, surrounded by black space and stars.]]
In 1968, Stafford went to Shepard's office and told him that an [[otologist]] in Los Angeles had developed a cure for Ménière's disease. Shepard flew to Los Angeles, where he met with [[William F. House]]. House proposed to open Shepard's [[mastoid bone]] and make a tiny hole in the [[endolymphatic sac]]. A small tube (endolymphatic-subarachnoid shunt) was inserted to drain excess fluid. The surgery was conducted on May 14, 1968, at [[St. Vincent Medical Center (Los Angeles)|St. Vincent's Hospital]] in Los Angeles, where Shepard checked in under the pseudonym of Victor Poulos.<ref name="40th" />{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=386–387}} The surgery was successful, and he was restored to full flight status on May 7, 1969.<ref name="40th" />

Slayton put Shepard down to command the next available Moon mission, which was [[Apollo 13]] in 1970. Under normal circumstances, this assignment would have gone to Cooper, as the backup commander of [[Apollo 10]], but Cooper was not given it. A rookie, [[Stuart Roosa]], was designated the [[Apollo command and service module#Command module (CM)|Command Module]] Pilot. Shepard asked for [[Jim McDivitt]] as his [[Lunar Module]] Pilot, but McDivitt, who had already commanded the [[Apollo 9]] mission, balked at the prospect, arguing that Shepard did not have sufficient Apollo training to command a Moon mission. A rookie, [[Edgar Mitchell]], was designated the Lunar Module Pilot instead.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=390–393}}{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=235–238}}

[[File:Alan Shepard during training for the Apollo 14 mission.jpg|thumb|left|Shepard in front of the [[Lunar Landing Research Vehicle]] during training for Apollo 14 |alt=Shepard stands in a white flight suit in front of a vehicle made of tubing, with two metal spheres and a small cabin]]
When Slayton submitted the proposed crew assignments to NASA headquarters, [[George Mueller (NASA)|George Mueller]] turned them down on the grounds that the crew was too inexperienced. So Slayton asked Jim Lovell, who had been the backup commander for [[Apollo 11]], and was slated to command [[Apollo 14]], if his crew would be willing to fly Apollo 13 instead. He agreed to do so, and Shepard's crew was assigned to Apollo 14.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=390–393}}{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=235–238}}

Neither Shepard nor Lovell expected there would be much difference between Apollo 13 and Apollo 14,{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=390–393}} but Apollo 13 went disastrously wrong. An oxygen tank explosion caused the Moon landing to be aborted and nearly resulted in the loss of the crew. It became a joke between Shepard and Lovell, who would offer to give Shepard back the mission each time they bumped into each other. The failure of Apollo 13 delayed Apollo 14 until 1971 so that modifications could be made to the spacecraft. The target of the Apollo 14 mission was switched to the [[Fra Mauro formation]], the intended destination of Apollo 13.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=402–406}}

Shepard made his second space flight as commander of Apollo 14 from January 31 to February 9, 1971. It was America's third successful [[List of lunar astronauts|lunar landing mission]]. Shepard piloted the Lunar Module ''Antares''.<ref name="Apollo 14" /> He became the fifth and, at the age of 47, the oldest man to walk on the Moon, and the only one of the Mercury Seven astronauts to do so.<ref name="The moon walkers">{{cite news |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jul/09/apollo-astronauts-walking-moon |title=The moon walkers: Twelve men who have visited another world |first=Christopher |last=Riley |date=July 10, 2009 |access-date=March 7, 2016 |archive-date=February 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204055219/http://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jul/09/apollo-astronauts-walking-moon |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Thompson|2004|p=407}}

This was the first mission to broadcast extensive color television coverage from the lunar surface, using the [[Apollo TV camera#Westinghouse Lunar Color Camera|Westinghouse Lunar Color Camera]]. (The same color camera model was used on [[Apollo 12]] and provided about 30 minutes of color telecasting before it was inadvertently pointed at the Sun, ending its usefulness.) While on the Moon, Shepard used a Wilson six-iron head attached to a lunar sample scoop handle to drive golf balls.<ref name="Apollo 14">{{cite web |url=http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo14.cfm |title=Apollo 14 |date=July 1999 |work=Apollo to the Moon |publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=March 7, 2016 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306214416/http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/landing-missions/apollo14.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Despite thick gloves and a stiff space suit, which forced him to swing the club with one hand, Shepard struck two golf balls, driving the second, as he jokingly put it, "miles and miles and miles".<ref name="golf">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a14/a14.clsout2.html |title=EVA-2 Closeout and the Golf Shots |year=1995 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Eric M. |work=Apollo 14 Lunar Surface Journal |access-date=May 29, 2011 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110524085326/https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a14/a14.clsout2.html |archive-date=May 24, 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref> Analysis of high-resolution film scans of the event determined the distance to be about {{convert|24|yd|m}} for the first shot and {{convert|40|yd|m}} for the second.<ref>{{cite web |last=Scrivener |first=Peter |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/55927727 |title=Golf on the moon: Apollo 14 50th anniversary images find Alan Shepard's ball and show how far he hit it |work=[[BBC Sport]] |date=February 4, 2021 |access-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204144226/https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/55927727 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Phelps|first=Jonathan|date=February 7, 2021|title=How far did Alan Shepard golf balls travel on the moon?|url=https://www.unionleader.com/news/human_interest/how-far-did-alan-shepard-golf-balls-travel-on-the-moon/article_32fdee01-74e1-5794-8f0b-d00011c806c3.html|url-status=live|access-date=July 20, 2021|website=UnionLeader.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208170629/https://www.unionleader.com/news/human_interest/how-far-did-alan-shepard-golf-balls-travel-on-the-moon/article_32fdee01-74e1-5794-8f0b-d00011c806c3.html |archive-date=February 8, 2021 }}</ref>

[[File:Apollo 14 Shepard.jpg|right|thumb|Shepard poses next to the [[Lunar Flag Assembly|American flag]] on the Moon during Apollo 14.|alt=An astronaut in an Apollo space suit with red stripes on the arms and legs and down the helmet stands amid gray dust, grasping the pole of an American flag ]]
For this mission Shepard was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal<ref name="NASA medals">{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol4/appa.htm |title=National Aeronautics and Space Administration Honor Awards |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |access-date=March 7, 2016 |archive-date=May 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517135837/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol4/appa.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]. His citation read:{{blockquote|The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Captain Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (NSN: 0-389998), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States, as Spacecraft Commander for the Apollo 14 flight to the Fra-Mauro area of the Moon during the period 31 January 1971 to 9 February 1971. Responsible for the on-board control of the spacecraft command module ''Kittyhawk'' and the lunar module ''Antares'' in the gathering of scientific data involving complex and difficult instrumentation positing and sample gathering, including a hazardous two-mile traverse of the lunar surface, Captain Shepard, by his brilliant performance, contributed essentially to the success of this vital scientific Moon mission. As a result of his skillful leadership, professional competence and dedication, the Apollo 14 mission, with its numerous tasks and vital scientific experiments, was accomplished in an outstanding manner, enabling scientists to determine more precisely the Moon's original formation and further forecast man's proper role in the exploration of his Universe. By his courageous and determined devotion to duty, Captain Shepard rendered valuable and distinguished service and contributed greatly to the success of the United States Space Program, thereby upholding the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.<ref name="valor" />}}

Following Apollo 14, Shepard returned to his position as Chief of the Astronaut Office in June 1971. In July 1971 President [[Richard Nixon]] appointed him as a delegate to the 26th [[United Nations General Assembly]], a position in which he served from September to December 1971.<ref name="40th" /> He was promoted to [[rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]] by Nixon on August 26, 1971, the first astronaut to reach this rank.<ref>{{cite news |title=Alan Shepard Becomes Admiral |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19710826&id=NvJOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3747,3816704 |newspaper=[[The Blade (Toledo)|The Blade]] |location=Toledo, Ohio |date=August 26, 1971 |page=12 |access-date=August 15, 2013 |archive-date=September 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914221138/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19710826&id=NvJOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3747,3816704 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Burgess|2014|p=241}} He was succeeded as Chief of the Astronaut Office by John Young on April 30, 1974.<ref>{{cite press release |first=Terry |last=White |date=April 30, 1974 |id=74-71 |title=Young to Head Astronaut Office |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83126main_1974.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225161744/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83126main_1974.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2017 }}</ref> Shepard retired from both NASA and the Navy on July 31, 1974.<ref name="40th" />