Shepard’s Shot
The first American spaceflight was a triumph—for an astronaut and for a nation.
- By Tony Reichhardt
- AirSpaceMag.com, May 05, 2011
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NASA
The First Astronaut (with wife Louise, in front of the U.S. Capitol three days after his Mercury flight) received a hero's welcome and a medal from the President. But there was no ticker tape parade in New York, as there would be for John Glenn a year later. NASA Administrator James Webb was careful in using Shepard for propaganda purposes, and even turned down a request by the astronaut's home town of Virginia Beach, Virginia for him to appear as Chairman Marshall of the Armed Services Day parade. Webb also vetoed a joint television appearance with Yuri Gagarin in New York, which had been proposed by the ABC network.
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