alan sheppard was the first american in space that road for 15 minutes and came back down. in 1967 the second group came on and shoemaker who brought geology specifically to prepare for the mission and he talked to nasa and other scientists and said if we are planning to send people to the moon we should do more than plan and fly back, we should do science pick what better way to learn about the origins of the planet and who we are them by studying another solar system similar to ours. in january 1963, the next astronauts and the second group that including neil armstrong, others came out on a cold day and flew into flagstaff airport. they flew in two plains in case one crashed and not all the astronauts would have perished. they flew in the guys and they were rock stars and met by the mayor and cheering fans wanting autographs and they went to the media because if you are going to the moon and around this pockmarked area, why not study the area at the crater down the road. we want to mediate crater to see what it look like and they went to the observatory to study the mapp