In January 1961, Shepard was chosen for the first American manned mission into space. Although the flight was originally scheduled for October 1960, delays by unplanned preparatory work meant that this was postponed several times, initially to March 6, 1961 and finally to May 5.
While on the other hand, on April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first person in space and to orbit the Earth. According to Gene Kranz in his book, Failure Is Not an Option, "When reporters asked Shepard what he thought about as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he had replied, 'The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.'"
He had a successful career afterward and as he once said: “They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one.”
