Alan Shepard was an amazing astronaut who was born on November 18, 1923, and died on July 21, 1998! He was the very first American to fly into space, and he made his historic trip in a small spacecraft named Freedom 7. Imagine being the first person from your country to look down at Earth from the stars! His flight showed the whole world that people could travel to space and return safely.
Later, Alan became the fifth person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 14 mission! While he was there, he even brought a special golf club and hit two golf balls across the dusty lunar surface. He wanted to show kids everywhere how far things can fly where there is much less gravity! He proved that exploring space could be a grand, fun adventure!