May 5, 1961Reputable sourceWell documented
Alan Shepard is the first American in space
On the timeline · around May 5, 1961 ·
What happened
Shepard's 15-minute suborbital Freedom 7 flight made him the first American in space, weeks after Gagarin's orbit.
Why it matters
It proved US crewed spaceflight worked and set up Kennedy's Moon commitment 20 days later.
Sources
- NASA GSFC. Alan Shepard (StarChild biography) · Reputable source