Alan B. Shepard ~ November 18, 1923 - July 21, 1998

 Alan Shepard was a naval aviator, a test pilot and one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. He was the first American to go to space (1961), and the only Mercury astronaut who also went to the moon (1971). He missed flying in the Gemini program due to developing Meniere's disease but continued to serve with NASA. He later had corrective surgery and was able to return for the Apollo 14 mission. Shepard is currently the oldest man to have walked on the moon and the first to hit a golf ball there.

This is the famous photo of the group in pressure suits with Slayton and Glenn wearing work boots painted silver because not all the customized boots were ready yet.

Shephard was born in New Hampshire and the State House in Concord has a memorial for him.

Here's a photo of Shepard (near the middle with a cigar) in the Control Room at the Johnson Space Center in Houston (date & mission unknown).

There are a few photos of Shepard in the New Mexico Space Museum in Alamogordo.

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. has Shepard's Mercury capsule, Freedom 7, named 7 for the Mercury astronauts. We visited the museum in 2024.

We've visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida twice, once in 1990 and again in 2017. This is a photo from 1990 of a memorial to the Mercury 7.

The rest of the photos are from 2017.

Seeing one of the Apollo capsules is always a thrill and here is Apollo 14 which flew to the moon with Alan Shepard as Commander.

President Lyndon B. Johnson collected autographs at his ranch in Stonewall, Texas, and Shepard signed one of LBJ's Friendship stones.

These are two books by Shepard, et al, from my spaceflight library.

Shepard's ashes were dropped from a helicopter over the Pacific Ocean so there's no grave to visit. But there is a family plot in Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry, New Hampshire. And there's a cenotaph remembering Alan and his wife, Louise (photo from the internet).

RIP Alan B. Shepard.

Roger B. Chaffee ~ February 15, 1935 - January 27, 1967

 Roger B. Chaffee was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was an American naval officer, aviator, aeronautical engineer, and astronaut. A statue was installed in his honor in 2018 on the corner of Fulton St E and Sheldon Ave NE, downtown Grand Rapids.

Chaffee attended Central High School in Grand Rapids and became an Eagle Scout. There's a historical marker in front of Trinity United Methodist Church, 1100 Lake Drive SE, Grand Rapids.

After Chaffee's death, the Grand Rapids Public Museum renamed its planetarium after him.

The museum maintains a small exhibit with Chaffee memorabilia.

In 1963, Chaffee was selected as a NASA astronaut as part of the Third Group.

Because they perished together, Roger Chaffee will always be intertwined with Gus Grissom and Ed White. Here are some photos from the Grissom Air Force Base Museum in Peru, Indiana.

Grissom has a Memorial Museum in Mitchell, Indiana.

There's also a small space museum in Bonne Terre, Missouri.

In Frankenmuth, Michigan, you can find the Michigan Heroes Museum.

The Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has a plaque for Chaffee.

In 2017, we visited the Kennedy Space Center where 50 years after the Apollo 1 fire, the center put the hatch doors on display. Chaffee, Grissom, and White were sitting in the capsule on the launch pad for pre-launch testing. A fire broke out and all three were asphyxiated before they could get out of the capsule.

The Kennedy Space Center has a memorial to those who lost their lives in service to flight.

The Armstrong Air and Space Muesum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, has a small memorial to the fallen astronauts.

In 2024, we visited Arlington National Cemetery and walked up a hill to find the astronaut's grave. We were honored to pay our respects. RIP Roger B. Chaffee. 

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Gus Grissom Blogpost

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