Yuri Gargarin became the first man in space on April 12, 1961. The flight was controlled from the ground; he had a key to take over in an emergency. Alan Shepard was the first American in space, May 5, 1961. Mercury capsules all had "7" in their names, to honor the original seven Project Mercury astronauts.

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© 2001 Dave Herring
First appeared in The Christian Science Monitor 4/10/01 and is reproduced with permission

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