WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Department of the Navy announced Jan. 20 the naming of the Navy's newest combat logistics force underway replenishment naval vessel, USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3), to honor the first American in space, Rear Adm. Alan B. Shepard Jr. Like the legendary explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, for whom the first ship of the class was named, Shepard bravely volunteered to explore the unknown and became the first American in space. Thus began one of the most challenging endeavors in human history: the manned exploration of space. Shepard graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis,...