Alan Shepard (1923-1988) was an astronaut and naval aviator who became the first American in space when he piloted NASA's Mercury-Redstone 3 mission on May 5, 1961. He returned to space as the commander of Apollo 14 in 1971 where he became the fifth man to walk on the Moon.

Accolades for his achievements include the Congressional Space Medal of Honor awarded by Jimmy Carter, the US Navy christening a supply ship in his name, and several schools, highways, parks, and buildings named after him. In popular culture, he has been depicted in The Right Stuff, the HBO series From the Earth to the Moon, and via archival footage in the opening of every Star Trek: Enterprise episode.

References

• An unidentified Muppet in an Esskay Meats commercial from May 4, 1961 referenced Shepard's flight scheduled for the following morning. "Our man in space," the character noted, would be "out of this world, just like Esskay."^[1]

• The May 8, 1961 episode of Sam and Friends features Professor Madcliffe about to launch a spaceship. When Kermit notes that they'll be famous like Alan Shepard, Harry the Hipster recites a poem he's written for the astronaut. Madcliffe launches the craft leaving Bernice, the would-be first "astronaut-ess," grounded on Earth.^[1]

• Big Bird and a little girl were edited into footage of Shepard's moonwalk with Ed Mitchell during the Apollo 14 mission for a PBS promo in the early 2000s.

Sources