Edgar D. Mitchell

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell was born September 17th, 1930, in Texas. He earned Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management in 1952, a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics in 1961, and a Doctorate of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 1964.

Mitchell served as a member of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 9 and as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 10. On January 31st, 1971, he served as lunar module pilot for Apollo 14. Joined by commander Alan Shepard, they were the third crew to complete a moon landing. While command module pilot Stuart Roosa stayed in orbit, Shepard and Mitchell deployed various scientific equipment, activated science experiments, collected almost 100 pounds of lunar samples, and traveled the longest distance traversed on the lunar surface. Mitchell was then designated to serve as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 16.

In 1972, he retired from NASA.