As NASA fought to catch up to the Soviet Union in the space race, they selected a Navy veteran as the first astronaut. But what happened once Alan Shepard stepped into the space capsule?

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. On May 5, 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American to go to space. ['On This ...

In May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, a short suborbital mission that proved humans could survive launch, weightlessness, and reentry. Behind the calm headlines was Project ...