Alan Shepard - Awards and Honors

Awards and Honors

During his life, Shepard was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor (by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 for his pioneering Mercury flight); two NASA Distinguished Service Medals (1961 and 1971), the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, Navy Astronaut Wings, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He received the Langley Gold Medal (highest award of the Smithsonian Institution for aeronautics and astronautics) on May 5, 1964; the Lambert trophy; the Iven C. Kincheloe Award; the Cabot Award; the Collier Trophy; and the City of New York Gold Medal for 1971.

He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 11, 1990.

The Navy named a supply ship, USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE-3), for him in 2006. A geodesic dome was built in his honor in Virginia Beach, Virginia but was demolished in 1994.

A Redstone missile, from which the Redstone booster used to launch Shepard aboard Freedom 7 was derived, is on display in the Warren, New Hampshire town square.

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, New Hampshire is named after Shepard and Christa McAuliffe.

Interstate 93 in New Hampshire, from the Massachusetts border to its intersection with Route 101 in Manchester, is named in his honor. It passes through his native Derry. Interstate 565 in northern Alabama connecting Decatur, Alabama and Huntsville is officially the Admiral Alan B. Shepard Highway.

His hometown of Derry has the nickname Space Town in honor of his career as an astronaut. Following an act of Congress, the Post Office in Derry is designated the Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Post Office Building.

His high school alma mater in Derry, Pinkerton Academy, has a building named after him; and the school team name is the Astros after his career as an astronaut. Alan B. Shepard High School, in Palos Heights, Illinois, which opened in 1976, was named in his honor. Framed newspapers throughout the school depict various accomplishments and milestones in Shepard's life. Additionally, an autographed plaque commemorates the dedication of the building. The school newspaper is named Freedom 7 and the yearbook is entitled Odyssey. Its television news show is called NASA – News About Shepard Astros.

Other schools that honor his memory include Alan B. Shepard Middle School, Deerfield, Illinois; Alan B. Shepard Middle School, San Antonio, Texas; Alan B. Shepard Elementary School, Bourbonnais, Illinois, Alan B. Shepard Elementary School, Old Bridge, New Jersey, and formerly, Alan B. Shepard Elementary School in Highland Park, Illinois (closed).

Alan Shepard Park in Cocoa Beach, Florida, a beach-side park south of Cape Canaveral, is named in his honor.

In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Shepard was ranked as the ninth most popular space hero (tied with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Gus Grissom).

In 2011, NASA honored Shepard with an Ambassador of Exploration Award, consisting of a moon rock encased in Lucite, for his contributions to the U.S. space program. His family members accepted the award on his behalf during a ceremony on April 28 at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland, where it is on permanent display.

On May 4, 2011, the U.S. Postal Service issued a first-class stamp in Shepard's honor, the first U.S. stamp to depict a specific astronaut. The first day of issue ceremony was held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.