【美国人物志】阿朗·谢巴德 (5/8)

英语自学网

阿朗·谢巴德，美国宇航员，他在1961年5月5日的一次15分钟飞行中，成为第一个进入太空的美国人。
Hints:
Redstone
Yuri Gagarin
the Soviet Union
Alan Shepard
Mercury
Freedom Seven
last-minute

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There were some concerns about the safety of the huge Redstone rocket that was to carry the spacecraft. The launch had been delayed several times while more tests were done. By the time the rocket was ready for launch, Yuri Gagarin had already gone into space for the Soviet Union.
The choice of Alan Shepard to be the first American to fly in space was announced just a few days before the launch. Flights planned for May Second and May Fourth had to be halted because of bad weather.
On May Fifth, 1961, a Friday, Alan Shepard struggled once again into his Mercury capsule. The vehicle was named Freedom Seven. There was almost no room to move. Shepard waited inside for four hours. Weather was partly the cause of the delay. There were clouds that would prevent filming the launch. Also some last-minute repairs had to be made to his radio.
Shepard was tired of waiting. So he told the ground crew to hurry to solve the problems and fire the rocket. Finally, they did.