Born November 18, 1923 in East Derry, New Hampshire.
Died July 21, 1998 due to illness at the age of 74.

Physical Appearance:
Brown hair
Blue eyes
5 feet 11 inches tall, 170 lbs.

Family:
parents - Lt. Col. Alan B. Shepard and Renza Shepard
wife - Louise (Brewer) Shepard
He had two daughters and six grandchildren

Education:
BS from United States Naval Academy, 1944

Honors:
Honorary MA from Dartmouth College, 1962
Honorary Doctorate of Science from Miami University of Ohio, 1971
Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Franklin Pierce College, 1972
Congressional Medal of Honor
2 NASA Distinguished Service Medals
NASA Exceptional Service Medal
Navy Distinguished Flying Cross
The Langley Medal from Smithsonian Institute
The Lambert Trophy
The Kinchloe Trophy
The Cabot Award
The Collier Trophy
The City of New York Gold Medal
American Astronautical Society's Flight Achievement Award

Astronaut Alan Shepard, Jr. was a graduated from the United States Naval Academy on June 7, 1944.  He was commissioned by the USN as an ensign and was an officer during the last year of W.W.II on a destroyer ship.  When he returned from W.W.II he married his wife, Louise, on March 3, 1945.  They had two daughters in 1947 and 1951.  After he returned from war he then proceeded to pursue flight training to become a naval aviator at Corpus Christi Naval Station, Texas, and Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida.  In 1950, he entered the United States Navy Test Pilot School in Maryland.  He flew many experimental crafts.  Then in 1959, he was one of the 110 top test pilots invited to participate in the selection process for NASA's man-in-space program, Project Mercury.  During the April 9, 1959 NASA press conference he was announced as one of the Mercury Seven astronauts.  On May 2, 1961, Shepard was announced as the first astronaut to be launched into space and he was, on May 5, 1961.  Astronaut Alan Shepard, Jr. was launched in the Freedom 7, on the Redstone 3 rocket, at 9:34 am EST.  His flight lasted 15 minutes and 28 seconds, ascending 116 miles into a sub orbital of Earth.  He reached a velocity of 5, 134 miles per hour and pulled 11 G's.  After his monumental flight he returned to honorary parades in New York City, Washington DC, and Los Angeles.  And he was presented the NASA Distinguished Service Medal by President John F. Kennedy at the White House.  Later, he was the capsule communicator of Glenn and Grissom's flights and was back up pilot to Cooper on the last Mercury mission.  He was slated for further missions however he was discovered to have Meniere's syndrome which grounded him, therefore he remained with NASA in other functions.