Astronaut Alan Shepard was the first American to travel into space. He was an aviator in the United States Navy and a test pilot before being selected as one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts in 1959. On May 5, 1961, Shepard became the first American to travel into space aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft. He later commanded the Apollo 14 mission in 1971, becoming the fifth person to walk on the Moon.