Alan Shepard quotes - page 2

Alan Shepard was an American astronaut and naval aviator, recognized as the first American to travel into space. His historic flight aboard Freedom 7 marked a key milestone in the early era of space exploration. He later commanded Apollo 14 and became the fifth person to walk on the Moon. Here are 53 of his quotes:

Then there was the challenge to keep doing better and better, to fly the best test flight that anybody had ever flown. That led to my being recognized as one of the more experienced test pilots, and that led to the astronaut business. (Alan Shepard)

But when I was selected, after my very first tour of squadron duty, to become one of the youngest candidates for the test pilot school, I began to realize, maybe you are a little bit better.

Alan Shepard

Of course I was delighted the flight was over, but I still had to worry about cleaning up inside the cabin, I had to worry about the hatch, how to get in the sling, and so on.

Alan Shepard

We also knew it would be difficult, because of the financial condition of the family, for me to go to college.

Alan Shepard

You have to be there not for the fame and glory and recognition and being a page in a history book, but you have to be there because you believe your talent and ability can be applied effectively to operation of the spacecraft.

Alan Shepard

I didn't mind studying. Obviously math and the physical science subjects interested me more than some of the more artistic subjects, but I think I was a pretty good student.

Alan Shepard

Later, in the early teens, I used to ride my bike every Saturday morning to the nearest airport, ten miles away, push airplanes in and out of the hangars, and clean up the hangars.

Alan Shepard

So everything turned out fine, and we were given the opportunity to go to Washington and be briefed on the project of man in space, and given the opportunity to choose whether we wanted to get involved or not.

Alan Shepard

I think all of us certainly believed the statistics which said that probably 88% chance of mission success and maybe 96% chance of survival. And we were willing to take those odds.

Alan Shepard

Of course, in our grade school, in those days, there were no organized sports at all. We just went out and ran around the school yard for recess.

Alan Shepard

His service will always loom large in America's history. He is one of the great heroes of modern America. (Alan Shepard)

With the passing of Alan Shepard, our nation has lost an outstanding patriot, one of its finest pilots -and I have lost a very close friend.

Alan Shepard

There were similarities between these two incidents. The similarity was too much success ... over-confidence and complacency, quite frankly.

Alan Shepard

The first one I hit pretty flush with one hand - went about 200 yards. And the second one I shanked, and it rolled into a crater about 40 yards away.

Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard was a great man, a great leader. We were pioneers. If you are an explorer, what more can you ask than to travel into space.

Alan Shepard

One can make the argument that the success of the Shepard flight enabled the decision to go to the moon.

Alan Shepard

This is the first time that astronauts of the first group have exhibited things that are personal and sentimental to them. We hope it will encourage youngsters to follow in our footsteps.

Alan Shepard

His flight was a tremendous statement about tenacity, courage and brilliance. He crawled on top of that rocket that had never before flown into space with a person aboard, and he did it. That was an unbelievable act of courage.

Alan Shepard

It's been a long way, but we're here.

Alan Shepard

The first plane ride was in a homemade glider my buddy and I built. Unfortunately we didn't get more than four feet off the ground, because it crashed.

Alan Shepard

I woke up an hour before I was supposed to, and started going over the mental checklist: where do I go from here, what do I do? I don't remember eating anything at all, just going through the physical, getting into the suit. We practiced that so much, it was all rote. (Alan Shepard)

The excitement really didn't start to build until the trailer - which was carrying me, with a space suit with ventilation and all that sort of stuff - pulled up to the launch pad.

Alan Shepard

You've done it in the simulator so many times, you don't have a real sense of being excited when the flight is going on. You're excited before, but as soon as the liftoff occurs, you are busy doing what you have to do.

Alan Shepard

If we had said 30 years ago that we were going to have only two incidents with casualties, we would have thought, 'Boy, that's great. To me, that indicates that the program has really exceeded what the early expectations were.

Alan Shepard

No way that any astronaut worth his salt volunteered for the space program to become a hero. You don't select astronauts who want fame and fortune. You select them because they're the best test pilots in the world, they know it, and it's a personal challenge for them. And the astronauts of today are exactly the same.

Alan Shepard

Previous
1
2 (Current)
3
Next

Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard - Image

Occupation: American Astronaut
Born: November 18, 1923
Died: July 21, 1998
Quotes count: 53
Wikipedia: Alan Shepard

Related authors

John Glenn 8

American Astronaut

Gus Grissom 3

American Astronaut

Edgar Mitchell 5

American Astronaut

Gordon Cooper 2

American Astronaut

Scott Carpenter 5

American Astronaut

Buzz Aldrin 181

American Astronaut

Wally Schirra 23

American Astronaut

Alan Bean 19

American Astronaut

Yuri Gagarin 14

Soviet Astronaut

Neil Armstrong 66

American Astronaut