Veteran NBC reporter Jay Barbree, left, speaks with Alan Shepard's daughters, Alice Wackermann, second from left, Julie Jenkins, and Laura Shepard Churchley, right, during a celebration marking the 50th Anniversary of Alan Shepard's first flight into space, Thursday, May 5, 2011, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The main scientific objective of project Mercury was to determine man's capabilities in a space environment. The flight lasted 15 minutes 28 seconds and covered 303 statute miles. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)