On June 3, 1965, 120 miles above the Earth, Major Edward H.
White II opened the hatch of the Gemini 4 and stepped out of
the capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in
space. Attached to the craft by a 25-foot tether and controlling
his movements with a hand-held oxygen jet-propulsion gun,
White remained outside the capsule for just over 20 minutes. 

On May 5, 1961, Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. 
was launched into space aboard the Freedom 7 space
capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to travel
into space. The suborbital flight, which lasted 15 minutes
and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere,
was a major triumph for the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).

(FOXNEWS) – John Glenn, Marine Corps combat pilot, pioneer
of human exploration and later a longtime United States senator,
became the first American to orbit the Earth on this day in history,
Feb. 20, 1962.

"Glenn’s ride into space, a great technical accomplishment, held
even greater significance for the country," says the website of the
John & Annie Glenn Museum in the astronaut’s hometown of New Concord, Ohio.

Astronaut John Glenn photographed in space by an
automatic sequence motion picture camera during
his historic orbital flight on "Friendship 7."

Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., who
reimagined the potential of human achievement before a
worldwide audience when he walked on the moon, was
born on this day in history, Jan. 20, 1930.

"The sky is not the limit … There are footprints on the
Moon!" the explorer enthused in his 2016 book, "No
Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked
on the Moon."

The Apollo 11 mission was the first in human history to land
men on earth’s satellite, fulfilling a dream as old as humanity
itself. 

This photo of Buzz Aldrin was taken by Neil Armstrong
during the first manned mission to the moon in 1969.

Ronnie Walter Cunningham (March 16, 1932 – January 3, 2023)

Walter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from the first
successful crewed space mission in NASA’s Apollo program,
died Tuesday in Houston. He was a lunar module pilot on the 
1968 Apollo 7 mission. NASA confirmed Cunningham’s death
on Twitter.

Apollo 7 crewmates Donn Eisele (at left), Wally Schirra
(center) and Walt Cunningham.  (NASA)