47 years ago today, Alan Shepard was our first man is space.

edbermac

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Mon May-05-08 11:52 AM
Original message

47 years ago today, Alan Shepard was our first man is space.

A sixteen minute suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7, three weeks after Yuri Gagarin of the former Soviet Union became the first man in space. Ten years later, Shepard would be the only member of the Original Seven astronauts to walk on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission.

An interesting contrast when rockets are used to explore the universe and not to blow up everyone on Earth.

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flor de jasmim

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Mon May-05-08 11:55 AM
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1. I was in the 2nd grade and we sat on top of our desks and watched it on TV

I remember the wonderment of imagining new worlds out there...the thought that anything was possible.

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slackmaster

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Mon May-05-08 11:59 AM
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2. And today we have Presidential candidates who "don't believe in" evolution

Edited on Mon May-05-08 11:59 AM by slackmaster

:argh:

(Referring to most of the GOP slate and their debates in the last year)

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bikebloke

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Mon May-05-08 12:06 PM
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3. We watched it on TV in school.

I don't remember if this was in the auditorium or classroom. probably the second grade, too. For later launches, they rolled a telly into the classroom.

After that, when I heard people say that John Glenn was the first man (translated - american) in space, I'd mention Alan Shepard.

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kwassa

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Mon May-05-08 12:09 PM
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4. I was in third grade, and we watched it on a tv brought to school

It was a very big deal. We were very excited.

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Captain Hilts

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Mon May-05-08 12:17 PM
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5. Go Navy! nt

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MuseRider

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Mon May-05-08 12:25 PM
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6. I remember that.

I also remember that every time there was a launch we would watch it in school and cheer when everything went well then we would talk science. When my children went to grade school they would watch entertainment movies. Hmmmm.

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DemoTex

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Mon May-05-08 12:33 PM
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7. The Right Stuff

Period

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