Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard, left, first American to make a space flight, and George R. Lakin, New Zealand?s ambassador to the United States, pose with a chair given to Shepard in a ceremony at the state department in Washington, June 6, 1961. The chair has a red and white skirt symbolizing rocket exhaust, a blue midsection representing a rocket, and a small white pilot at the top representing a nose cone. Lakin presented it on behalf of the New Zealand-American Association. George Emmes made the chin Gisberne, New Zealand. (AP Photo/Charles Gorry) Ref #: PA.8611845
