who was the first american in space

Alan Shepard was the first American in space.

Quick Scoop

• The first American in space was Alan B. Shepard Jr., a U.S. Navy test pilot and NASA astronaut.

• His historic flight took place on May 5, 1961, aboard the Mercury capsule Freedom 7.

• The mission was a short suborbital flight, lasting about 15 minutes and reaching roughly 116 miles (about 187 km) in altitude.

• Although Shepard was the first American, the first human in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin a few weeks earlier, in April 1961.

This early Mercury mission helped prove that NASA could safely send humans into space and paved the way for later orbital flights and, eventually, the Moon landings.

TL;DR: Alan Shepard, flying Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961, was the first American in space.

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