Today in the history of astronomy, Alan Shepard makes history.

President Kennedy congratulates Alan Shepard after his Freedom 7 flight. The success of the mission would inspire Kennedy to ask Congress for an increased NASA budget only three weeks later, with the specfic goal of landing on the Moon. Credit: NASA

In 1961, amidst the tensions of the Space Race, NASA made an unpopular choice: Concerned with booster issues during a January test flight with a chimpanzee, the agency chose to run additional tests without human astronauts. Project Mercury, the American push for space success in the face of strong competition from the Soviets, had been underway for over two years, and NASA had already selected the Mercury 7 – the first class of American astronauts.…