Talk:Alan Shepard/Archive 1

Crying
He was also the only astronaut to admit crying whilst on the Moon (at the beauty/magnitude of it all, not out of fear). Not sure if that is relevant although could be an interesting trivia point

Alan B. Shepard Jr. Place is a street in Yonkers, NY 10705
This article is locked or something so I couldn't add it myself.

This article may violate copyrights
This article is extremely similar to the one found here. There is a lot of the exact same wording, but some sentences were just moved or reworded a little (it is still technically a violation). I will do a little research and thinking, and I may put a copyright violation notice on this article in the next week or so. Wikipeedio 15:31, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * That's not a copyvio. As you said, it's from NASA. That means it's fair game. See Template:NASA. &mdash;Joseph/N328KF (Talk) 15:38, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, that's right... the government can't have copyrights. Ok obviously I didn't get enough sleep last night. Nevermind about the whole thing then. Wikipeedio 15:42, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Golf
The Apollo mission page says he smuggled a six-iron...here it says he used a converted scoop...which is the truth? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.14.104.198 (talk • contribs). He was also a millionare!!! :O '''Both, actually. The handle of his improvised club was the contingency sample return rod, while the head of golf club was smuggled by Alan. Roswell Crash Survivor 04:18, 8 December 2006 (UTC)'''

This is a myth. He did not smuggle anything. The club head was approved by NASA management prior to the flight. After the A13 accident, they didn't want to risk anymore bad press.67.142.130.35 02:47, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

The article referred to the club head as a Spalding. I was just at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum where the "club" is on display - the club head is a Wilson 6 iron.

reverted "mess" back in html comment
The html comment only makes sense if it has the same word that's in the displayed text. If you feel otherwise, let's discuss it. d a v i d w r 09f9(talk) 04:08, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Achieve A-Class Status?
What more needs to be done to bring this article to A-Class status? I have made some effort to simplify and redefine the Astronaut Career section, which appeared muddled. It would of course have been helpful if whomever made the rating could have bothered to out in some comments. Any other ideas? Khavakoz 10:23, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Suborbital
It should be noted that, unlike Gagarin's and Titov's, Shepard's flight was suborbital. 82.56.18.152 17:57, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

US President Candidate
I read in a german news magazine that Shepard ran in a campaign to become US president, but (obviously) without success. But I don't find anything about this in the article. Did they write something wrong? If anyone might ask: There was no year given, they only wrote "after Apollo 14 and leaving the NASA he failed to become a presidential candidate". Does anyone know something about this? --Scooter (this one)  10:59, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I just finished reading a biography of Shepard called Light This Candle by Neal Thompson (excellent book, by the way) and there was no mention whatsoever of political aspirations. Shepard was the only member of the early group of astronauts that came from a wealthy family, and he entered the business world after leaving the program. &#39;Card 17:15, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Many errors in the Thompson book particularly about his father and grandfather in Derry,NH. He never ran for or sought public elected office. I think the wealth of the family was overblown quite a bit. The depression was pretty hard on both sets of grandparents who were once successful buisnessmen. Banking on his father's side, shoe manufacturing on his mothers. His father he addressed as "Sir", not Col.as he was not a Lt.Col(Res) until ABS Jr had been at Annapolis. His grandfather was never a soldier, he was a Col. by title only. (Aide-de-camp to a NH Gov.) The electric streetcar owned by his grandfather was closed in 1927 by Alan's father Bart. Thrifty by nature he wore old uniform shirts and pants without insignia or rank only to mow the lawn or paint. His father was an MBA (1914 Dartmouth, not a military man full time. Alan graduated from Pinkerton Academy, Derry,NH and then Admiral Farragut as a prep year for Annapolis. (Too young as he skipped two years of school in Derry). He was class of 45 at Annapolis but finished in 3 years. (The WW2 three year rush). Too many errors throughout the book to list. Information from a close family member.

First man in space? According to Google...
A quick search for "alan sheppard" (without the quotemarks) turns up a link to this article as the first find. It is accompanied by "Encyclopedia article includes information on the naval and astronaut career of the first man in space." Is there anyway of fixing this blatantly false piece of information on Google? Is this Google or Wikipedia that is doing this? I wonder...-- I ate jelly -- 10:01, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
 * That text doesn't show up anywhere in the Wikpedia article. I even looked at the raw html (page source) and it isn't hidden in there anywhere, so it must be an artifact of Google's Directory system. I have no idea how you'd get them to change it. &#39;Card 17:15, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Third man in space?
The article says that Shepard was "the third man and first American astronaut in space". If he was the third man in space, and Gagarin was the first, then who was the second? Matt 13:08, 22 September 2006 (UTC).

I suspect that was a vandal. Not the first time this was included in this article and both times, there was not supporting reference for assertion. A third time this was mentioned in this article, it was a part of a lengthy discourse that someone had written about how egocentric the US is in that they believe that Shepard and Ride were the first man and woman in space and that the US failed to recognize that there were other countries wuch as the then Soviet Union which beat them to the punch. I had also removed that as well. I took the further step of searching the listing of astronauts and cosmonauts created in Wikipedia and beyond and I am not finding the "second person" in space that was not Shepard. The only thing that can be said with certainty in the article is that Shepard was the first American in space, which is how the article has always read. Ladydayelle 13:39, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Soviet cosmomaut Gherman Titov was the second man in space aboard Vostok 2. Wikipedia already has a well-established article documenting this. 160.111.254.11 19:27, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

No he wasn't! Titov's flight on Vostok 2 went up in August 1961 - see Astronautix Article. Shepard was the second man in space and I have reverted the article accordingly. (of course, given that Gagarin ejected from Vostok 1 it can be argued that Alan was the First man to complete a spaceflight, but that's just madness) Khavakoz 10:20, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

68.92.39.223 23:58, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Education
"He was of Scottish descent." Doesn't belong under this heading, and is a poor example of the language. 166.128.209.173 (talk) 13:11, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Who said this? WaPo says it was Wally Schirra
Wikipedia says: "When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, 'The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.'"

The Washington Post's obit of Wally Schirra gives the credit to Schirra.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050300879.html

Walter Schirra; Fifth Astronaut in Space

By Patricia Sullivan Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, May 4, 2007; Page B07

Walter M. Schirra Jr., 84, one of the original seven astronauts and the only man to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs, died of a heart attack May 3 at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. He also had cancer. ....

Asked later what he thought while sitting on the launchpad, Capt. Schirra replied, "This was all put together by the lowest bidder."

4.249.186.191 05:05, 1 November 2007 (UTC)


 * whether Shep or Schirra said it, I presume it was paid homage by the Steve Buscemi character in "Armageddon". ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120591/trivia "Rockhound's line about sitting on a million pounds of fuel in a rocket built by the lowest bidder is a variation of an actual radio transmission by Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, just prior to lift-off." of course, IMDB never gives a source for that :) but was it a "radio transmission" or "asked later what he thought while..." ? ) 199.214.27.252 (talk) 20:33, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Misc
Ahem. I understand Shepard is dead; so should it still mention that he is retired? I am just asking, for all I know, that is the way it's done, I wouldn't have a problem with that. -- Cimon Avaro on a pogo stick 07:01 13 Jun 2003 (UTC)

William Shepherd the crew of Expedition 1 is still alive. He has the smae last name!!
 * Jer10 95 04:58, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

I've read von Braun insisted on a test of the Redstone, which delayed Shepard's fligt into 5/61. Confirm? Trekphiler 06:15, 8 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Mercury-Redstone BD, launched 24/03/61. --GW_SimulationsUser Page 11:43, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

The photo "Shepard aboard Freedom-7" is a mirror image of the real photo. Please replace it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.115.110.10 (talk) 00:00, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Shepherd's Prayer
Think there's any way we can include the Shepherd's Prayer in here? I am referring to:


 * Dear Lord, please don't let me fuck up.
 * Alan Shepherd

-Joseph 04:29, 2004 Jul 20 (UTC)

No. See Content disclaimer and Profanity. &mdash;Joseph/N328KF (Talk) 20:09, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
 * This contains inapporpiate launguage. Jer10 95 04:54, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Can we just get rid of this quote! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)


 * Somebody seems to have removed it. I don't have time to go back through and find out where, but it will be since my last edit, which was to revert a previous censorship attempt. Could somebody try to dig it up. --GW_SimulationsUser Page 21:57, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
 * And again, by anonymous edit, on 14th March. Reverted. Khavakoz 21:26, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Might it be better off under quotes? --GW_SimulationsUser Page 21:01, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Shepard never said that "prayer". In reality, he said: "Don't f**k up, Shepard!". This is written in his book "Moon Shot". He said it to himself, so it couldn't possibly be a prayer. "The Right Stuff" was "fictious", as Shepard himself said. You cannot quote a fictious book. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.115.110.30 (talk) 18:30, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Copyright
The "Experience" section is lifted word for word from his NASA biography. Is that stuff subject to copyright restrictions?

Randall Cameron randallcameron@kpmg.com.ye —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.162.184.1 (talk • contribs).

NASA documents are under US government restrictions, and so can be used here without fear of copyright violation. I'd also note that it is hardly lifted word for word, but rather it features the same information - hard to avoid same given those are the facts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.2.174.100 (talk) 00:07, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Rear Admiral
The rank Rear Admiral refers two differn't USN ranks,Upper and lower half. The article doesn't specify his exact rank though going to imagine it was lower half.--173.64.220.137 (talk) 22:37, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

BioWare
In the Media section the W in BioWare should be capitalized. 194.78.37.122 (talk) 19:48, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from Alrobnett, 24 May 2010
Please add 2010 Alan Shepard Award recipient Allen V Robnett.

reference is: http://2010.nationalspacesymposium.org/education/alan-shepard-award

Alrobnett (talk) 01:29, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Alrobnett (talk) 01:29, 24 May 2010 (UTC)


 * ✅ Thanks for providing the reference. - EdoDodo talk 09:36, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

National American Astronaut Day
My seventh grade class is promoting the idea of changing National Astronaut Remembrance Day (honoring perished astronauts)to National American Astronaut Day to honor ALL American astronauts living and dead. Please "Like" our Facebook page at: National American Astronaut Day.76.203.24.12 (talk) 18:37, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Alleged Albanian origin
In response to recent claims that Shepard was of Albanian descent, let me say that we as yet have no source indicating this. What we do have are two sources calling him an eighth-generation New Englander (the latter also ascribes Mayflower descent), and another linking him to Josiah Bartlett. So as far as we can tell from reliable sources, his paternal grandparents (Shepard and Bartlett) as well as his mother (Emerson) were all of old New England stock. Any claims of Albanian origin would have to be validated by equally scholarly sources. - Biruitorul Talk 23:49, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 67.166.32.47, 26 April 2011
Please stop the perpetuation of this false quote of famous astronaut Alan Shepard. Alan Shepard says aloud;"Don't fuck this up"-- directed at NASA Mission Control

Whoever put the other quote is just following what everyone else has perpetuated for years, in all his interviews Shepard himself acknowledged what he said, and that it was pointed at the guys in charge on the ground.

67.166.32.47 (talk) 03:31, 26 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Stickee (talk)  14:00, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 206.255.250.29, 5 May 2011
James Irwin, the 8th man to walk on the moon, died 7 years before Alan Shepard did. Thus the claim that Alan Shepard was the first man to die that had walked on the moon is an error. It should read that Alan Shepard was the second man to die who had walked on the moon followed by Pete Conrad who was the third man to die who had walked on the moon. Look at the list of men in your MEN WHO HAVE WALKED ON THE MOON page and you'll clearly see the dates of death for all three men. If that doesn't convince you then google either man's name and compare dates of death.

206.255.250.29 (talk) 13:42, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done by User:Brownian Desmond. — Bility (talk) 17:06, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

Started young?
If the birth and death dates are correct, then he was 65 when he died, leaving a wife of 53 years.... He married at age 12?Gimelgort 23:35, 5 May 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gimelgort (talk • contribs)

Space Foundation Award recipients don't need to be listed here
If the reader clicks on the hyperlink on the award name, he/she will be taken immediately to a table listing all 13 recipients. It is not necessary to duplicate the list here. It adds to maintenance (why should two articles be maintained instead of one?), and I believe adds WP:Undue weight to Alan Shepard's article. The award winners do not inherit Shepard's notability. LunarMeow, if you have arguments otherwise, please make them here and do not edit war. JustinTime55 (talk) 21:31, 1 August 2013 (UTC)

Could somebody clarify?
''Shepard died of leukemia in Pebble Beach, California, on July 21, 1998 at the age of 74, two years after being diagnosed with that disease. He was the second astronaut to die who had walked on the Moon; Jim Irwin being the first in 1991. His wife, Louise Shepard, died five weeks later on August 25, 1998, at 5pm, the time at which Shepard had also called her.'' The time at which Shepherd had called her when??
 * ✅ Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (talk) 05:08, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

Mercury "volunteers"
The original wording that NASA invited the candidates to volunteer isn't accurate. NASA asked the pilots' commanding officers wherever they were serving, to select potential candidates, and the selectees were ordered to attend NASA's pitch of the program. (Source: Jim Lovell's Lost Moon.) They weren't compelled to apply, but I don't think "invited by NASA" is accurate either. I changed this to "selected by their CO's", but if anyone finds this objectionable, they are invited to try to explain it more clearly. JustinTime55 (talk) 21:34, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
 * ✅ Hawkeye7 (talk) 05:10, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

Misunderstanding of citations
We may need to reword or provide in text attributions for the sentence prior to citation 31 that reads After graduation, he participated in flight test work which included high- altitude tests to obtain data on light at different altitudes and on a variety of air masses over the American continent; and test and development experiments of the Navy's in-flight refueling system, carrier suitability trails of the F2H3 Banshee, and Navy trials of the first angled carrier deck. It appears to be taken verbatim from source cited, http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/shepard-alan.html, which is in violation of WP:Plagiarism

I am not sure which course of action would be better.--Cincotta1 (talk) 17:08, 25 March 2016 (UTC)


 * The article already states: This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The text is sourced with a footnote. Re-read WP:CITE.  Hawkeye7 (talk) 19:51, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
 * You are right, sorry about the confusion--Cincotta1 (talk) 22:02, 25 March 2016 (UTC)

First space traveler to land safely in his spacecraft
I believe it worthy of mention that while Yuri Gagarin is widely credited as the first human in space, by the rules of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in place at the time, his flight should not have counted, as he did not land in his spacecraft. Alan Shepard was not only the first American in space, but he was the first human to enter space and land safely in his craft. Nsayer (talk) 14:08, 21 May 2015 (UTC)
 * "widely credited" is what we go by. And to be honest, that sounds like moving the goalposts. Bataaf van Oranje (Prinsgezinde) (talk) 00:05, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

1946 photo
The 1946 photo of Shepard has very low contrast. On my computer I've improved the contrast. Should I upload it replacing the original or not? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 01:09, 16 February 2017 (UTC)


 * I've uploaded the higher-contrast version of the photo. I did not overwrite the original because the file photo might actually look like that.  Here they are side-by-side so you can compare.  I prefer to use the one with higher contrast. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 22:19, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I prefer it too. Changed the article to use it. Hawkeye7 (talk) 23:12, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

Lunar module capitalisation

 * I have checked the NASA histories SP-4205 Chariots for Apollo A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft, SP-4102 Managing NASA in the Apollo Era and SP-4214, Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions. This makes grammatical sense - there were 15 of them. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:55, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

Flying time
The article cites The Salt Lake Tribune, and says Shepard "had logged more than 3,600 hours of flying time, including 1,700 hours in jets". But the NASA source claims it was "more than 8,000 hours flying time--3,700 hours in jet aircraft." Meanwhile his biography by Nick Thompson claims "Shepard and Glenn ... [e]ach had fifty-five hundred hours of accumulated military and civilian flying time". The numbers from different sources don't match up, so which one is more believable? --SSYoung[who?] 19:47, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
 * The newspaper source is for 1959, and derives from a NASA press release. The NASA page is dated 1998, and likely includes later flying. Thompson doesn't say where he got his figures from, but all are higher than the newspaper, so probably relate to a later time, but not as late as the NASA site.  Hawkeye7   (talk)  20:39, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified (January 2018)
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Shepard's Prayer
Shepard's Prayer redirects to Alan Shepard, yet there is no mention of it on the page. Should it be added? For those who don't know, it is usually quoted as "Dear Lord, please don't let me fuck up", although Shepard claimed the words to be "Don't fuck up, Shepard". DuncanHill (talk) 12:06, 5 November 2018 (UTC)


 * I have added it to the Shepard's Prayer article. Feel free to expand it.  Hawkeye7   (discuss)  19:01, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Reaction to Gagarin's flight
Neal Thompson says in his book Light This Candle that, when Shepard heard the news about Yuri Gagarin's flight, he "slammed his fist down on a table" next to a NASA officer (that's Thompson 2004, p. 282). However, in this article called First Step To The Moon, written by Shepard himself, he says he was sleeping in a hotel room when someone called telling him the news. So, which one should we trust more? Should we put them both in the article? Cléééston (talk) 03:22, 8 April 2019 (UTC)