CONCORD, NH (AP).- Alan Shepard wrote his parents 52 years ago, telling them about the possibility that he could be asked to pilot America’s first mission into space. But before letting them in on the big news, he offered pleasantries and discussed how much he liked his renovated house and was looking forward to an upcoming wedding. “Thanks so much for your recent note, Daddy,” Shepard started the letter that’s up for auction next month. Shepard, who in 1961 became the first American in space, was an experienced Navy test pilot when he wrote the Jan. 29, 1959, letter to “Mother and Daddy.” He began talking about the space program in the fourth paragraph, and stuck to the topic for the rest of the three-page