On May 5, 1961, Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. became the first American in space after climbing atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket. The approximately 15-minute suborbital hop officially put the Americans into the space race, which had begun in 1957 with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik.
Shepard, a Naval aviator known for his icy demeanor under pressure, was the second man to visit space — the first having been Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – and would later become the fifth man to walk on the moon, serving as commander of Apollo 14. He was the only member of the original seven Mercury Program astronauts to visit the moon.
While on Earth's only natural satellite, Shepard took a few strokes at a golf ball with a makeshift club, becoming one of the indelible images of the Apollo program.
Shepard flew in space only the two times, having been sidelined after his first flight by an inner-ear problem until a medical procedure enabled him to return to flight status in time for him to earn command of an Apollo mission.
Shepard died in July 1998 at the age of 74.
Yes, I'll admit it. I love Battlestar Galactica, Dune, Star Trek, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Macs, iPods, NASA, Wii, Xbox ... and about a dozen other things that 
qualify me for geek status. Oh, and then there's my love for all things Longhorn and the NFL...
