He oversaw the activities, training and schedules of the astronauts, and assisted with mission planning. Shepard switched gears, taking over as the Chief of the Astronaut Office for NASA. Shepard was grounded in 1963, forbidden from solo flights in jet planes and from traveling in space. Fluid in his inner ear had built up, increasing the sensitivity of the semicircular canals and causing vertigo. He was subsequently diagnosed with Ménière's disease. However, he woke one morning dizzy and nauseated, and found himself falling constantly. NASA selected Shepard to be part of the first crewed Gemini mission, which was called Gemini 3.

Astronauts in Gemini practiced docking spacecraft in orbit and performing spacewalks, two skills that would be required for moon landings. But after successfully putting an astronaut in orbit for a full day in 1963 with Faith 7 (piloted by Gordon Cooper), NASA decided to close the first manned space program and move on with Gemini, the next step on the journey toward the moon. Shepard worked on the ground for subsequent flights in the Mercury program and was scheduled to pilot the Mercury 10 mission. Kennedy awarded him the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. While Gagarin's name was publicized, many of the details of his flight were kept confidential for more than a decade – such as the fact that he parachuted to Earth, rather than landing in his spacecraft. Unlike with Gagarin, Shepard's launch, flight and splashdown were watched on live television by millions of people.

Īlthough the Soviets had reached the historic milestone first, and Gagarin had achieved a longer orbital flight, Shepard's suborbital flight still made a significant worldwide impact. Also, a filter left on the periscope window made the Earth appear black and white. Because of the placement of the porthole windows, the first American in space was unable to catch a glimpse of the stars, and he was strapped in too tight to experience weightlessness.

On May 5, Freedom 7 lifted off, carrying Shepard to an altitude of 116 miles (187 kilometers) for a 15-minute suborbital flight. Shepard's launch was initially scheduled for May 2 but was rescheduled twice because of weather conditions. The Soviets beat the Americans by less than a month. The stakes were raised in the space race on April 15, 1961, when the Soviet Union launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space and he became the first person to orbit the Earth, flying in space for 108 minutes.

When was the race into space