National Astronaut Day

In 2016, the United States celebrated the first National Astronaut Day. The day is meant to pay tribute to the daring souls who risked everything to expand the horizon of mankind's knowledge and prowess. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard, aided by Gunter Wendt and the rest of the launch pad crew, became America's first astronaut crossing into the new frontier of space. The entire sub-orbital trip lasted just 15 minutes.