James Reilly waves to spectators from a vintage Chevrolet Corvette during a commemorative parade in Cocoa Beach.

Retired space shuttle astronaut James Reilly waves to spectators from a vintage Chevrolet Corvette during a commemorative parade in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

A group of current and retired NASA astronauts gathered in Cocoa Beach to commemorate NASA’s 50 years of accomplishments and to honor astronaut Alan Shepard’s Mercury/Freedom 7 suborbital flight May 5, 1961.The event was marked by a parade, with the astronauts riding in a fleet of Chevrolet Corvettes that corresponded with the time period of their space missions. Members of the Cape Kennedy Corvette Club, a group established in 1967, escorted almost two dozen astronauts or their family representatives in club members' cars. The Corvette parade started at the glass bank building, at 9:34 a.m. EDT, the same time Shepard launched into space. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett