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)

NEW YORK (AP) — Buzz Aldrin’s jacket worn on his historic first
mission to the moon’s surface in 1969 has been auctioned off to
a bidder for nearly $2.8 million.

The $2,772,500 paid for the Apollo 11 Inflight Coverall Jacket is
the highest for any American space-flown artifact sold at auction, according to Sotheby’s, which handled the sale. The unidentified
winning bidder, who participated by phone, outlasted several
others in a bidding that spanned almost 10 minutes.

Buzz Aldrin ( Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.) turned 92 in January.