World Explorers: Alan Shepard

6 minutes

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On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard made a 15-minute suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, which reached an altitude of 115 miles. The flight came 23 days after Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin became the first human to travel in space, but Shepard’s flight energized U.S. space efforts and made him a national hero. Part of the "World Explorers" series.

Media Details

Runtime: 6 minutes

Topic: Biographies, History, Science
Subtopic: Biography, Explorers, Space Sciences
Grade/Interest Level: 4 - 8
Standards:

Release Year: 2017
Producer/Distributor: PBS Learning Media
Series: World Explorers

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