Shepard's

Shepard's 15-minute flight as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts didn't reach orbit, as Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had done three weeks earlier and as Glenn did nine months later.

NASA celebrates astronaut Shepard's historic first flight 2011

Shepard's rustic wisecracks are pungent and understated, full of bite and spice that catches you by surprise.

Marshall Fine: Movie Review: Blackthorn Marshall Fine 2011

Shepard's flight was seen as a reply to that accomplishment and a way to put behind the memory of the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion on April 17.

NASA celebrates astronaut Shepard's historic first flight 2011

Shepard's family gave the award a moon rock mounted for public display to the Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Md.

NASA celebrates astronaut Shepard's historic first flight 2011

Kennedy Space Center, where both those missions were launched, will celebrate the anniversary of Shepard's first flight as one of the key moments in human spaceflight, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.

NASA celebrates astronaut Shepard's historic first flight 2011

But I did speak with Shepard's partner, Edgar Mitchell, who chain smoked as I sat in his Florida home listening to him describe in detail his thirty-three hours on the moon, how he and Shepard tried to sleep in their capsule after the first day on the surface but kept whispering like boys on a camping trip.

Neal Thompson: 50 Years Later: The Alan Shepard Freedom 7 Flight Neal Thompson 2011

Fellow Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter and members of Shepard's family will join Bolden at the unveiling and at a 50th anniversary ceremony Thursday at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

NASA celebrates astronaut Shepard's historic first flight 2011

One story making the rounds featured a Canadian writer who analyzed images and film footage of Shepard's 1971 Apollo 14 lunar mission and found two curious film frames -- one with the American flag pointed to the right, another with the flag pointing left.

Neal Thompson: 50 Years Later: The Alan Shepard Freedom 7 Flight Neal Thompson 2011

Though the Soviets struck first -- Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth three weeks before Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 flight, which celebrates its 50th anniversary May 5 -- the United States won the big prize by reaching the moon, the crowning achievement of the Cold War rivalry and an accomplishment that ranks among America's proudest moments, if not mankind's.

Neal Thompson: 50 Years Later: The Alan Shepard Freedom 7 Flight Neal Thompson 2011

On Wednesday, the U.S. Postal Service will unveil a stamp honoring the Mercury program and Shepard's historic launch in a ceremony at the Rocket Garden of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

NASA celebrates astronaut Shepard's historic first flight 2011