Posted on 05/05/2021 7:31:14 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Sixty years after Alan Shepard became the first American in space, everyday people are on the verge of following in his cosmic footsteps.
...And Elon Musk's SpaceX will launch a billionaire and his sweepstakes winners in September. That will be followed by a flight by three businessmen to the International Space Station in January.
It's all rooted in Shepard's 15-minute flight on May 5, 1961.
Shepard, who died in 1998, went on to command Apollo 14 in 1971, becoming the fifth moonwalker — and lone lunar golfer.
...California businessman Dennis Tito paid $20 million to visit the space station, launching atop a Russian rocket. Virginia-based Space Adventures arranged Tito's weeklong trip, which ended May 6, 2001, as well as seven more tourist flights that followed.
The U.S., Canadian and Israeli entrepreneurs flying SpaceX early next year are paying $55 million — each — for their 1 1/2-week mission.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtae.com ...
Better to celebrate this than Cinco de Mayo
My mom let me be late to school so I could watch it all on TV. Last night I had...uhhh...
Yep - the Mexican army beat a badly outnumbered company of French troops. FRENCH troops!
That is their great national holiday.
Step aside while we launch humans into space.
If I recall, Shepard was the first American launched into space and John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth.
Some of us are celebrating Bright Wednesday—with or without tacos!!!!
Christ is Risen!!!!
Meh we never went to the moon, climate change is real, earth is flat and the virus is worse than leprosy.
Planet Nibaru is coming...and....and Biden?Kamala is the most popular since America began. Trusting Q/Sessions...walking ob the moon? Pfffft.
His nickname was the Ice Commander. Nerves of Steel.
Alan Shepard aka Jose Jimenez.
Fast free Renewal Week...I’m definitely having some Queso and carne (cheese and meat)!
This is some bad stuff!!!
The early Astronauts were purchased from slave traders???
Will, we ever get the full story on José Jiménez???
Ham was born in July 1957 in French Cameroon (now Cameroon),[5][6] captured by animal trappers and sent to Rare Bird Farm in Miami, Florida. He was purchased by the United States Air Force and brought to Holloman Air Force Base in July 1959.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_(chimpanzee)#:~:text=Ham%20(July%201957%20%E2%80%93%20January%2019,U.S.%20space%20program‘s%20Project%20Mercury.
At its start, the decade was dubbed "the Soaring Sixties," a nickname that, sadly, is long forgotten. Nowadays, the sixties are known as the Destructive Generation.
It’s not a Mexican holiday, just a reason for stupid gringos to get drunk
On that morning, Captain Kangaroo was interrupted and an announcement—big white letters on a black background—flashed across the TV screen reading, “stand by for a special telecast.” This was followed by a live broadcast of the event.
No one, at least in my community, had ever heard of Cinco de Mayo in 1961.
Amen!
Actually, Robert White piloting the X-15 aircraft is considered the first man in space.
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