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David Scott undergoes
water egress training
Insignia for the Gemini 8 flight |
He Walked on the Moon
NAME: David R. Scott
(Colonel, USAF, Ret.)
NASA Astronaut (former)
PERSONAL DATA: Born June 6, 1932,
in San Antonio, Texas. Married. Two children. Recreational interests
include swimming, handball, skiing, and photography.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Western
High School, Washington, D.C.; received a Bachelor of Science degree from
the United States Military Academy and the degrees of Master of Science in
Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineer in Aeronautics and Astronautics
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; awarded an Honorary
Doctorate of Astronautical Science from the University of Michigan in
1971. He has graduated from the Air Force Experimental Test Pilots School
and Aerospace Research Pilots School.
ORGANIZATIONS: Scott is a fellow
of the American Astronautical Society, Associate fellow of the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and member of the Society of
Experimental Test Pilots, and Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi and Sigma Gamma Tau.
SPECIAL HONORS: Two NASA
Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, two Air
Force Distinguished Service Medals, the Air Force Distinguished Flying
Cross, the Air Force Association's David C. Schilling Trophy and the
Robert J. Collier Trophy for 1971.
EXPERIENCE: Scott graduated fifth
in a class of 633 at West Point and subsequently chose an Air Force
career. He completed pilot training at Webb Air Force Base, Texas, in 1955
and then reported for gunnery training at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas,
and Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.
He was assigned to the 32d Tactical Fighter squadron at Soesterberg Air
Base (RNAF), Netherlands, from April 1956 to July 1960. Upon completing
this tour of duty, he returned to he United States for study at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He retired from the Air Force in March 1975 with the rank of Colonel and
over 5600 hours of flying time.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Scott was one of
the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963.
On March 16, 1966, he and command pilot Neil Armstrong were launched into
space on the Gemini 8 mission--a flight originally scheduled to last three
days but terminated early due to a malfunctioning thruster. The crew
performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space and
demonstrated great piloting skill in overcoming the thruster problem and
bringing the spacecraft to a safe landing.
Scott served as command module pilot for Apollo 9, March 3-13, 1969. This
was the third manned flight in the Apollo series, the second to be
launched by a Saturn V, and the first to complete a comprehensive
earth-orbital qualification and verification test of a "fully configured
Apollo spacecraft." The ten-day flight provided vital information
previously not available on the operational performance, stability, and
reliability of lunar module propulsion and life support systems. Highlight
of this evaluation was completion of a critical lunar-orbit rendezvous
simulation and subsequent docking, initiated by James McDivitt and Russell
Schweickart from within the lunar module at a separation distance which
exceeded 100 miles from the command/service module piloted by Scott. The
crew also demonstrated and confirmed the operational feasibility of crew
transfer and extravehicular activity techniques and equipment, with
Schweickart completing a 46-minute EVA outside the lunar module. During
this period, Dave Scott completed a 1-hour stand-up EVA in the open
command module hatch photographing Schweickart's activities and also
retrieving thermal samples from the command module exterior. Apollo 9
splashed down less than four miles from the helicopter carrier USS
GUADALCANAL.
In his next assignment, Scott was designated backup spacecraft commander
for Apollo 12.
He made his third space flight as spacecraft commander of Apollo 15, July
26 - August 7, 1971. His companions on the flight were Alfred M. Worden
(command module pilot) and James B. Irwin (lunar module pilot). Apollo 15
was the fourth manned lunar landing mission and the first to visit and
explore the moon's Hadley Rille and Apennine Mountains which are located
on the southeast edge of the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). The lunar
module, "Falcon," remained on the lunar surface for 66 hours and 54
minutes (setting a new record for lunar surface stay time) and Scott and
Irwin logged 18 hours and 35 minutes each in extravehicular activities
conducted during three separate excursions onto the lunar surface. Using
"Rover-1" to transport themselves and their equipment along portions of
Hadley Rille and the Apennine Mountains, Scott and Irwin performed a
selenological inspection and survey of the area and collected 180 pounds
of lunar surface materials. They deployed an ALSEP package which involved
the emplacement and activation of surface experiments, and their lunar
surface activities were televised using a TV camera which was operated
remotely by ground controllers stationed in the mission control center
located at Houston, Texas. Other Apollo 15 achievements include: largest
payloads ever placed into earth and lunar orbits; first scientific
instrument module bay flown and operated on an Apollo spacecraft; longest
distance traversed on lunar surface; first use of a lunar surface
navigation device (mounted on Rover-1); first subsatellite launched in
lunar orbit; and first extravehicular (EVA) from a command module during
transearth coast. The latter feat performed by Worden during three
excursions to "Endeavour's" SIM-bay where he retrieved film cassettes from
the panoramic and mapping cameras and reported his personal observations
of the general condition of equipment housed there. Apollo 15 concluded
with a Pacific Ocean splashdown and subsequent recovery by the USS
OKINAWA.
He has logged 546 hours and 54 minutes in space, of which 20 hours and 46
minutes were in Extravehicular Activity. He is only one of three
Astronauts who have flown both earth orbital and lunar Apollo Missions. |
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