Fifty years to the moment Alan Shepard rocketed away, more than 100 Project Mercury workers joined former astronauts and NASA leaders at the original Redstone launch pad Thursday to celebrate the event that opened space travel to Americans, AP reported. Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961, soaring 116 miles (187 kilometers) high in his Freedom 7 capsule. The Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin beat him into space by just 23 days. Then, as now, those who helped launch Shepard took solace in the fact that "it was the first one for the free world." Shepard died in 1998 at age 74. NASA played the original capsule recording of his voice for the entire 15-minute flight, during the hourlong ceremony. The recording of the fight was timed precisely to the second of the 9:34 a.m. launch time. A compilation of TV footage from that day - the launch itself and the huge crowds on the beaches - played on a giant screen near the stage. In the background, a replica of the Mercury Redstone rocket stood on the actual launch pad. Former shuttle astronauts winced as Shepard reported the building G's - nine times the force of gravity and more - during the initial descent.
