On this day in 1961, the first American astronaut rockets into space. Alan B. Shepard, Jr. traveled to an altitude of 116 miles above Earth, completing the mission known as Mercury-Redstone 3 while he sat in a small capsule that he’d named Freedom 7. He landed in the Atlantic just 15 minutes and 28 seconds after launch. The Apollo missions sent men to the moon, of course, but do you know about the Mercury missions that predated them? Ultimately, more than two dozen of the

On this day in 2007, Wally Schirra passes away. He is best known for his service as an astronaut at NASA: He was the fifth American and the ninth human to travel into space. He was also the only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. He wasn’t the only astronaut to participate in all three, though. Technically, Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom should have done the same, but he never flew as an Apollo astronaut. Instead, he was tragically killed along wit

On this day in 1970, Apollo 13 prepares for its trip into space. Just two days into its mission, the spacecraft would unfortunately be struck by catastrophe. An oxygen tank would explode, leaving three astronauts in a crippled spaceship about 200,000 miles from Earth. How would they survive? For days, the country waited in suspense. Congress passed resolutions asking Americans to pray. The flight began uneventfully enough. Apollo 13 had run into a few pre-flight hiccups,

On this day in 1924, a future U.S. Air Force test pilot is born. Captain Milburn “Mel” Apt is best known for being the first to fly faster than Mach 3. Sadly, his Bell X-2 supersonic aircraft went into a spin mere seconds later. The intrepid pilot was unable to eject in time. “These are powerful rocket planes,” Air Force Magazine described, “each icebox white, small, and more powerful than any engine man has ever built. They are rapier-nosed guided missiles, guided by men who