When Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human into space on April 12, 1961, the American space program rose to the occasion, and less than a month later, astronaut Alan Shepard became the ...

Those were the words Alan Shepard used 60 years ago Wednesday to note his cockpit timepiece had begun running. This meant his Redstone rocket booster had left the ground sending him and his one-man ...