Fifty four years ago today, on May 5, 1961, a long time before I knew anything about Cinco de Mayo, Mercury Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. blasted off in his Freedom 7 capsule atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket. His 15-minute sub-orbital flight made him the first American in space. 

His flight further fueled my love for space travel that had been building since the Sputnik and Vanguard satellites were launched a few years previously.