Alan Shepard: Space

“No way that any astronaut worth his salt volunteered for the space program to become a hero. You don't select astronauts who want fame and fortune. You select them because they're the best test pilots in the world, they know it, and it's a personal challenge for them. And the astronauts of today are exactly the same.”

Alan Shepard

Roxanne Roberts (May 4, 1991) "Blastoff to the Past - Tribute to America's First Men in Space", The Washington Post, p. D1.

World , Way , Personality

“Alan Shepard was a great man, a great leader. We were pioneers. If you are an explorer, what more can you ask than to travel into space.”

Alan Shepard

Edgar Mitchell — reported in St. Petersburg Times staff (July 23, 1998) "Alan Shepard Jr. 1923-1998 - Space pioneer", St. Petersburg Times, p. 1A.
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Travel

“His flight was a tremendous statement about tenacity, courage and brilliance. He crawled on top of that rocket that had never before flown into space with a person aboard, and he did it. That was an unbelievable act of courage.”

Alan Shepard

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin — reported in Mark Carreau (July 23, 1998) "Alan Shepard, first American in space, is dead at 74 - Space Age pioneer succumbs to lengthy illness in California", Houston Chronicle, p. A1.
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Courage , Personality

“The same way people are now paying a couple thousand dollars to fly to other parts of the world, people will be paying $50,000 to spend a weekend on a space station.”

Alan Shepard

Malcolm Howard (April 30, 1987) "The Day the Earth Stood Still - On Film, Anyway", The Record, p. B08.

People , World , Way , Parting

“We need a continuing presence in space.”

Alan Shepard

Bill Kaczor, Associated Press (May 8, 1993) "Astronauts advocate return to the moon, space flights beyond", The Tampa Tribune, p. 7.

“Now that we've lost Alan Shepard, I can't help feeling that something is wrong with this picture; astronauts aren't supposed to grow old and leave this Earth forever. In our memories, they remain as Shepard was on that sunny Friday morning in May 1961, when he lay inside a tiny Mercury capsule ready to be hurled into space atop a Redstone booster.”

Alan Shepard

Andrew Chaikin (August 2, 1998) "Real American heroes: Shepard pushed our frontiers", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, p. 3.
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Feeling , Memory , Help

“I realized up there that our planet is not infinite. It's fragile. That may not be obvious to a lot of folks, and it's tough that people are fighting each other here on Earth instead of trying to get together and live on this planet. We look pretty vulnerable in the darkness of space.”

Alan Shepard

Josh Getlin, Los Angeles Times (July 19, 1994) "What Does Moon Flight Mean Now", The Seattle Times, p. A10.

People , Fight

“We're going to see passengers in space stations in 15 years, who will be able to buy a ticket and spend a weekend in space.”

Alan Shepard

The Dallas Morning News staff (July 28, 1986) "People", The Dallas Morning News, p. 2A.