New York: The daughter of Alan Shepherd, the first American to reach space in 1961, has followed in her father’s footsteps for more than 60 years. Daughter Laura Shepherd Churchley, 74, was flown into space by her father’s Blue Origin’s Newshepherd rocket. The rocket, carrying six people, including Laura, left Texas at 8.45am on Saturday. Lara was accompanied by four private individuals and American television star Michael Strahan. The crew completed 100 minutes of space travel in 10 minutes and returned safely to the Texas desert. Blue Origin chief Jeff Bezos was also present to receive them. Alan Shepherd, the first American to enter space as part of a NASA mission, is also the fifth person to land on the moon. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company named the rocket ‘New Shepherd’, developed for space tourism, in honor of Alan Shepherd.
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