The May 5, 1961 Nashua Telegraph announced Derry astronaut Alan B. Shepard's return to earth after his historic flight.

If you were from far away and were on a road trip that brought you to New Hampshire for the first time, and you chose a route that took you through a town called Derry, you might have wondered if the folks who ran the place were big fans of The Jetsons TV show.

After all, you saw signs that greeted you with “Welcome to Spacetown USA.” You noticed highway markers had spaceships on them.

Entering the downtown, you spotted a roadside rocket with the name “Spacetown Motel” in neon lights affixed vertically from the rocket’s tip to its base.

And if those sightings still didn’t convince you this place called Derry was somehow connected to “The Jetsons,” all you needed to do was keep driving until you came upon a rotary, then looked for signs directing you to Pinkerton Academy.

Eventually, you would see it: The big sign welcoming you to “Pinkerton Academy – Home of the Astros.”

Dean Shalhoup

Longtime reporter, columnist and photographer, is back doing what he does best ñ chronicling the people and history of Nashua. Reaching 40 years with The Telegraph in September, Deanís insights have a large, appreciative following.

Aha! That’s all you needed to know: the school named its sports teams after the Jetsons’ family dog!

Actually, that’s not the case, and to the best of local historians’ knowledge, Derry’s “Spacetown” references and Pinkerton’s “Astronauts” nickname (it was later shortened to “Astros”) have nothing to do with George, Jane, Judy, Elroy, Astro or even Rosey (the family’s household robot).

All the references were in fact inspired by a real person, a man born just up the road in the Derry village of East Derry, who graduated from Pinkerton Academy when its nickname was the “Agents,” because the Pinkertons who founded the school were connected with the famous – and sometimes infamous – Pinkerton National Detective Agency, whose investigators and security personnel were, naturally, called agents.

Beginning in the World War II years, this man, Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr., would put his native village’s name on the proverbial map. His name would come up more and more in conversations at the highest levels of the U.S. Navy, his resume packed with such accomplishments as graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, attending test pilot school and the Naval War College in Rhode Island, being named to the staff of the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet.

All of that training and service, and more, set the stage for the momentous event that took place 60 years ago this week, an accomplishment that made Alan B. Shepard Jr. a household name across America: The 47-year-old Navy man became the first American in space.

Telegraph file photo Thousands of people from across the region line the streets of downtown Derry in June 1962 for the giant parade in honor of astronaut Alan B. Shepard, who 60 years ago this week became the first American in space. (Telegraph file photo)

Today, May 2, would have been the exact 60th anniversary of Shepherd’s historic flight, but weather issues pushed it back to May 5. Moments after Shepard blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard Freedom 7 – the name Shepard gave to the Project Mercury capsule – he would reach an altitude of more than 116 miles and achieve a velocity of 5,134 mph.

By today’s standards, the flight was quite brief: Just 15 minutes and 28 seconds in duration. But the moment Shepard and Freedom 7 splashed down in the Atlantic, millions of Americans coast to coast surely felt a sense of pride as they squinted at the fuzzy images being broadcast on black-and-white TVs nationwide.

Thirteen months later, Shepard, accompanied by his wife, Louise, was tendered a giant, 5-division parade, attended by thousands of his fellow Derry residents and plenty of folks from away who yearned to get a glimpse of the American hero, perhaps even shake his hand.

Shepard must have been used to parades in his honor by then. Not long after his flight, parades were organized in Washington, New York and Los Angeles, and later that year, Shepard was called to the White House to receive the NASA Distinguished Service Medal from none other than President John F. Kennedy.

But Shepard, despite being diagnosed following his historic flight with Menere’s syndrome, an inner-ear disorder, and glaucoma, the buildup of pressure in the eyes, wasn’t finished with taking flight in the name of his country.

Astronaut Alan B. Shepard escorts his wife, Louise, toward a reviewing stand from which he would address the thousands of people who turned out for the June 1962 parade through downtown Derry, his hometown, in celebration of his becoming the first American in space 60 years ago this week. (Telegraph file photo)

Indeed, in early 1971, Shepard was named the mission commander for the Apollo 14 flight, during which he became the fifth American to walk on the moon.

Shepard was 74 when he died of leukemia in July 1998, but as Americans of a certain age – especially those who call Derry home – can attest, the legacy of pioneer astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. lives on.

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Alan B. Shepard Jr. • A timeline

• 1923: Born, Nov. 18, East Derry

• 1940: Graduates in June from Pinkerton Academy

• 1941: Enters Admiral Farragut Academy, New Jersey

• 1942: Enters U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis

• 1944: Graduates, June 7, from Naval Academy

• 1944: Commissioned ensign; serves on the destroyer Cogswell in the Pacific

• 1945: Marries, March 3, the former Louise Brewer

• 1947: Earns Navy wings

• 1947: Assigned to fighter squadrons in Virginia and Florida; serves several tours aboard aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean

• 1950: Enters U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Maryland

• 1951-53: Assigned to “night fighter” unit flying Banshee jets in California

• 1954: Attends Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island; assigned to staff of commander-in-chief, Atlantic fleet

• 1959: Becomes, in April, one of seven astronauts chosen from a field of 110 applicants for NASA’s Project Mercury manned space flight program

• 1961: Is selected, on Feb. 21, the prime pilot for the first mission; John Glenn named Shepard’s backup pilot

• 1961: NASA announces, on May 2, that Shepard “would definitely be the first American in space

• 1961: Is launched, at 9:43 a.m. May 5, into space aboard the spacecraft Freedom 7; splashes down successfully 15 minutes, 28 seconds later

• 1962: Is guest of honor, in June, at giant parade through downtown Derry; town adopts the name “Spacetown USA”

• 1962: Pinkerton Academy, his alma mater, changes its nickname from the “Agents” to the “Astronauts”; later shortened to “Astros”

• 1964: Is diagnosed with Meniere’s syndrome, an inner-ear disorder that causes disorientation, dizziness and nausea; as well as glaucoma; is grounded by NASA

• 1969: Has successful surgery on inner ear; NASA restores him, in May, to full flight status

• 1971: Embarks, in January, on second and final space flight; becomes fifth American to walk on the moon

• 1971: Resumes, in June, duties as chief of NASA’s astronaut office; promoted, in December, to rear admiral

• 1974: Retires, July 31, from the Navy and resigns from NASA.

• 1975: Enters the business world in various capacities

• 1984: Founds, with other surviving Mercury astronauts, the Mercury Seven Foundation

• 1995: Named president and chairman of the foundation

• 1998: Dies, on July 21, at age 74 in Monterey, California, following battle with leukemia

Dean Shalhoup’s column appears weekly in The Sunday Telegraph. He may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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