In 1961, amidst the tensions of the Space Race, NASA made an unpopular choice: Concerned with booster issues during a January test flight with a chimpanzee, the agency chose to run additional tests ...

Dr. Emily Margolis, Curator of Contemporary Spaceflight at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, joins John Landecker to talk about Alan Shepard Jr., who became the first American in space ...

As astronauts from Artemis II head back to Earth after circling the moon, it’s a moment to look back at when the U.S. was still trying to catch up in space. On Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn became the ...

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Alan Shepherd became the first American in space on May 5, 1961 - it was NASA’s first Mercury mission. The flight was the United States answer to the USSR launching cosmonaut Yuri ...