Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second man and the first American to travel into space, and in 1971, he walked on the Moon. Shepard was designated as the commander of the first crewed Project Gemini mission but was grounded in 1963 due to Ménière's disease, an inner-ear ailment that caused episodes of extreme dizziness and nausea. This was corrected in 1969, and in 1971, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission, piloting the Apollo Lunar Module Antares. At age 47, he became the fifth, the oldest, and the earliest-born person to walk on the Moon and the only one of the Mercury Seven astronauts to do it. During the mission, he hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.

Famous Astronauts I

An astronaut (or cosmonaut) is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.

Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the terms are sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.