"The rocket had worked perfectly, and all I had to do was survive the reentry forces. You do it all, in a flight like that, in a rather short period of time, just 16 minutes as a matter of fact"

Alan Shepard's quote is a testament to the extraordinary task of engineering and human ingenuity that was the very first American spaceflight. He is describing the effective launch of the Freedom 7 rocket, which he piloted in 1961. The rocket worked completely, and all he needed to do was survive the extreme reentry forces. This was no small task, as he needed to finish the entire flight in just 16 minutes. This was a remarkable accomplishment, and Shepard's quote works as a reminder of the unbelievable power of human ingenuity and the capacity of space exploration. It is a pointer of the amazing risks that astronauts take in order to push the boundaries of area expedition and the extraordinary benefits that come with it.