Alan Shepard

On 5 May 1961, Freedom 7 carried Alan Shepard on a fifteen-minute suborbital flight — the first spaceflight by an American, three weeks after Gagarin. The Mercury capsule reached an altitude of 187 km and splashed down in the Atlantic.

31 January 1971

Apollo 14

In January and February 1971, Apollo 14 resumed crewed Moon landings after the Apollo 13 accident. Commander Alan Shepard, the first American in space, became at the age of 47 the oldest person ever to stand on the Moon — and famously hit golf balls there.