Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Edgar Mitchell, astronaut who walked on Moon, dead at 85

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: February 8, 2016 at 9:39:29 AM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Edgar Mitchell, astronaut who walked on Moon, dead at 85

Feb. 5, 2016
16-014
NASA Administrator Remembers Apollo-Era Astronaut Edgar Mitchell
Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell in front of a graphic of the mission patch.
Credits: NASA
The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the passing of NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell:
"On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell. As a member of the Apollo 14 crew, Edgar is one of only 12 men to walk on the moon and he helped to change how we view our place in the universe.
"Edgar spoke poetically about seeing our home planet from the moon saying: 'Suddenly, from behind the rim of the moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth … home.'
"He believed in exploration, having been drawn to NASA by President Kennedy's call to send humans to the moon. He is one of the pioneers in space exploration on whose shoulders we now stand."
For more information about Mitchell's NASA career, and his agency biography, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/apollo-astronaut-edgar-mitchell-dies-at-age-85
-end-
David Weaver
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
david.s.weaver@nasa.gov
Last Updated: Feb. 5, 2016
Editor: Sarah Ramsey

NASA History
Feb. 5, 2016
Apollo Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Dies at Age 85
Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 lunar module pilot stands by the deployed U.S. flag on the lunar surface during the early moments of the mission's first spacewalk. He was photographed by astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., mission commander. While astronauts Shepard and Mitchell descended in the Lunar Module "Antares" to explore the Fra Mauro region of the moon, astronaut Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Module "Kitty Hawk" in lunar orbit.
Credits: NASA
Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, lunar module pilot on Apollo 14, passed away Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla., on the eve of the 45^th anniversary of his lunar landing.
Mitchell joined Apollo 14 commander Alan Shephard, Jr., the first American in space, in the lunar module Antares, which touched down Feb. 5, 1971, in the Fra Mauro highlands. Shepard and Mitchell were assigned to traverse the lunar surface to deploy scientific instruments and perform a communications test on the surface, as well as photograph the lunar surface and any deep space phenomena. It was Mitchell's only spaceflight.
Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell in front of a graphic of the mission patch.
Credits: NASA
Mitchell and Shephard set mission records for the time of the longest distance traversed on the lunar surface; the largest payload returned from lunar surface; and the longest lunar stay time (33 hours). They were also the first to transmit color TV from the lunar surface. Mitchell helped collect 94 pounds of lunar rock and soil samples that were distributed across 187 scientific teams in the United States and 14 other countries for analysis.
"On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. "As a member of the Apollo 14 crew, Edgar is one of only 12 men to walk on the moon and he helped to change how we view our place in the universe. "
Mitchell was drawn to the spaceflight by President Kennedy's call to send astronauts to the moon. "After Kennedy announced the moon program, that's what I wanted, because it was the bear going over the mountain to see what he could see, and what could you learn, and I've been devoted to that, to exploration, education, and discovery since my earliest years, and that's what kept me going," Mitchell said in 1997 interview for NASA's oral history program.
"To me, that (spaceflight) was the culmination of my being, and what can I learn from this? What is it we are learning? That's important, because I think what we're trying to do is discover ourselves and our place in the cosmos, and we don't know. We're still looking for that."
In his book "The Way of the Explorer", Mitchell wrote, "There was a sense that our presence as space travelers, and the existence of the universe itself, was not accidental but that there was an intelligent process at work."
Mitchell retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy and founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973, organized to sponsor research in the nature of consciousness. In 1984, he co-founded the Association of Space Explorers, and international organization for all who "share experience of space travel." The mission of this organization is to provide a new understanding of the human condition resulting from the epoch of space exploration.
Scenes from the Apollo 14 mission
Edgar D. Mitchell was born Sept. 17, 1930 in Hereford, Texas, and considered Artesia, N.M., his hometown. He graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon in 1952, a B.S. in Aeronautics from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1961 and a Doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. NASA selected Mitchell as an astronaut in 1966. He served on the support crew for Apollo 9 and as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 10. He worked in the lunar module simulator at the Johnson Space Center during Apollo 13, developing procedures that would bring the crew of that crippled spacecraft home.
Mitchell has resided in Palm Beach County, Florida, since 1975. He is survived by his four daughters, Karlyn Mitchell, Elizabeth Kendall, Kimberly Mitchell, Mary Beth Johnson; two sons, Paul Mitchell and Adam Mitchell; and nine grandchildren.
NASA images of Edgar Mitchell
NASA Oral History Project interview with Edgar Mitchell
Last Updated: Feb. 7, 2016
Editor: Brian Dunbar

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, 6th man on moon, dies in Florida
By CURT ANDERSON February 5, 2016 7:35 PM

In a Sept. 5, 2007 file photo, former astronaut Edgar Mitchell arrives for the premiere of the …
MIAMI (AP) — Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who became the sixth man on the moon when he and Alan Shepard helped NASA recover from Apollo 13's "successful failure" and later devoted his life to exploring physics, the mind, and unexplained phenomena such as psychics and aliens, has died in Florida. He was 85.
Mitchell died Thursday night at a West Palm Beach hospice after a short illness, his daughter, Kimberly Mitchell, said. Mitchell's passing coincides with the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 14 mission from Jan. 31-Feb. 9, 1971.
Mitchell, one of only 12 humans to set foot on the moon, was not a typical strait-laced astronaut: In later years, he said aliens visited Earth and faith healers were legit. He attempted to communicate telepathically with friends at home during his Apollo mission. He had an "epiphany" in space that focused him on studying physics and mysteries such as consciousness.
"What I experienced during that three-day trip home was nothing short of an overwhelming sense of universal connectedness," Mitchell wrote in his 1996 autobiography. "It occurred to me that the molecules of my body and the molecules of the spacecraft itself were manufactured long ago in the furnace of one of the ancient stars that burned in the heavens about me."
In an emailed statement, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden called Mitchell, "one of the pioneers in space exploration on whose shoulders we now stand."
Mitchell's passion for exploration led him to become an astronaut, and he joined NASA in 1966. He helped design and test the lunar modules that first reached the moon in 1969 with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Shepard, the first American in space in 1961, picked Mitchell to be on Apollo 13's three-person crew. But they were bumped to the next mission so Shepard would have more time to train.
Apollo 13's astronauts were nearly killed when an oxygen tank exploded as they neared the moon in 1970. They made it home safely, but never set foot on the moon. A year later, Shepard, Mitchell and Stu Roosa were the first crew to try again amid falling support for the moon missions from President Nixon, Congress and the public.
"Had we blown it, had it failed for whatever reason, that would probably have been the end of the Apollo program right there," Mitchell said in 1997.
Fortunately, their mission, the third lunar landing and Mitchell's only trip in space, was a success.
Shepard collected about 95 pounds of samples in more than nine hours walking the lunar surface. They showed for the first time that astronauts could walk long distances on the moon, covering nearly two miles on their second expedition on the surface. That proved the crews of later missions could walk back to their spacecraft if the buggy-like Lunar Rover broke down.
Their mission was best known to the public because Shepard became the first and only golfer on the moon. Mitchell joked when Shepard duffed his first shot: "You got more dirt than ball that time." Less well known was that Mitchell made the only "javelin" throw on the moon when he tossed an unneeded metal rod.
But Shepard and Mitchell almost didn't make it to the surface because of problems in the lunar module.
First, a loose piece of metal in a switch triggered an abort signal as they prepared to travel down to the moon. Had the descent engine been on at the time, the module would have automatically aborted the landing. They traced the problem's cause by tapping on the switch with a flashlight and a pen.
Computer programmers back home wrote instructions to get around the abort problem and Mitchell entered them with just minutes to spare. Shepard later wrote that Mitchell remained "Mr. Unflappable" during the scare.
Once they started for the surface, though, the landing radar wasn't working correctly. Shepard and Mitchell agreed to take the dangerous and rule-breaking step of landing without radar, but didn't have to when the device started working just in time.
It was the telepathy experiment on the ride home that would give Mitchell notoriety. Even before he left, he told The Associated Press about his fascination with psychic phenomena and extrasensory perception and that he thought humans weren't the only intelligent life in the universe.
Those interests almost got him removed from the mission, said Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon and backup commander for Apollo 14. Cernan wrote in his autobiography that despite Mitchell's impeccable skills and vast intelligence, flight crew director Deke Slayton and Shepard were bothered with the fascination.
Mitchell claimed the experiment was a success, but most press reports dismissed him and some colleagues shunned him.
Edgar Dean Mitchell was born Sept. 17, 1930, in Hereford, Texas, and grew up working on his father's cattle ranch in New Mexico. He joined the Navy and got a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining NASA.
He left NASA in 1972 and founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences, which is dedicated to exploring the mysteries of the human mind and the universe. He also searched for ways to link the spirituality of religion with the hard facts of science.
In later years, he claimed the U.S. government covered up evidence that aliens had landed here. He also tried to prove that the supposed psychic spoon bender Uri Geller and faith healers were legit.
In 2011, he became embroiled in a legal fight with NASA over his plans to auction a 16mm camera he had brought home from the moon mission. The camera had been bolted to the l lunar module and would have been left on the moon if Mitchell hadn't removed it.
Although Mitchell contended it was a gift, NASA sued to stop the auction and eventually Mitchell agreed to donate it to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
___
Former Associated Press staff writer John Pain contributed material to this story.

Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, sixth man to walk on moon, dies at 85
February 5, 2016 8:18 PM

Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell is seen in an undated picture released by NASA. Mitchell, lunar module …
(Reuters) - Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon as module pilot on the record-setting Apollo 14 mission in 1971, has died at the age of 85, the U.S. space agency said on Friday.
Mitchell died in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday, on the eve of the 45th anniversary of the lunar landing, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. The Palm Beach Post reported that he died at a hospice center after a brief illness.
On his only space flight, Mitchell joined Apollo 14 commander Alan Shephard, Jr., the first American in space, in the lunar module Antares when it landed on Feb. 5, 1971.
Their mission was to deploy scientific instruments and perform a communications test, as well as photograph the lunar surface and any deep space phenomena, the space agency said.
Mitchell and Shephard set mission records for time of the longest distance traversed on the lunar surface, the largest payload returned from the moon, and the longest lunar stay time, at 33 hours. They were also the first to transmit color TV from the moon.
Mitchell helped collect 94 pounds (42.6 kg) of lunar rock and soil samples. He was the sixth of 12 men to walk on the moon.
In his book "The Way of the Explorer," Mitchell wrote, "There was a sense that our presence as space travelers, and the existence of the universe itself, was not accidental but that there was an intelligent process at work."
Mitchell retired from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Navy and founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973, organized to sponsor research in the nature of consciousness.
In 1984, he co-founded the Association of Space Explorers, an international organization devoted to providing an understanding of the human condition resulting from space exploration.
Mitchell was born in Hereford, Texas, and held a doctorate in aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was selected as an astronaut in 1966.
In a 1997 interview for the agency's oral history project, Mitchell said he was drawn to space flight by President John Kennedy's call to send astronauts to the moon.
"I've been devoted to that, to exploration, education, and discovery since my earliest years, and that's what kept me going," he said.
(Corrects age in headline and first paragraph to 85, not 86)
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Diane Craft)
Copyright © 2016 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Edgar Mitchell, astronaut who walked on Moon, dead at 85
February 6, 2016 4:22 AM
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This undated NASA image obtained February 5, 2016 shows Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 lunar …
Miami (AFP) - US astronaut Edgar Mitchell, one of just 12 people to have walked on the Moon, has died aged 85, his family and NASA said Friday, calling him a "pioneer."
NASA paid glowing tribute to Mitchell, who died in Florida after a brief illness late Thursday, the eve of the 45th anniversary of his lunar landing.
The late astronaut was a member of the 1971 Apollo 14 mission along with Alan Shepard Jr. and Stuart Roosa.
Mitchell was the last Apollo 14 survivor: Roosa died in 1994 and Shepard in 1998.
Speaking in a 1997 interview for NASA's oral history program, Mitchell said that he was drawn to spaceflight after president John F. Kennedy's call to send astronauts to the Moon.
"That's what I wanted because it was the bear going over the mountain to see what he could see, and what could you learn, and I've been devoted to that, to exploration, education and discovery since my earliest years, and that's what kept me going," Mitchell said.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recalled Mitchell marveling at the stunning view of Earth from space.
"Edgar spoke poetically about seeing our home planet from the Moon saying, 'Suddenly, from behind the rim of the Moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery.
"'It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth... home.'"
Bolden added: "He is one of the pioneers in space exploration on whose shoulders we now stand."
Buzz Aldrin, the second person on the Moon, echoed that on Twitter, calling Mitchell a "lunar pioneer."
The Apollo 14 mission -- Mitchell's only spaceflight -- began when the trio blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 31, 1971.
Mitchell was in charge of piloting the Antares lunar module, which landed in the Fra Mauro region of the Moon.
It was the third manned mission to the Moon and Mitchell became the sixth human to walk on the lunar surface.
During the mission the astronauts collected 100 pounds (40 kilos) of lunar rock samples and carried out a series of experiments.
The mission ended when the astronauts, traveling aboard a space capsule, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on February 9, 1971.
In 1972 Mitchell retired from NASA and the following year he founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences, dedicated to the study of consciousness and paranormal phenomena.
He said he believed that extra-terrestrial unidentified flying objects (UFOs) had visited the Earth, but acknowledged that he had never seen one.
Mitchell was the author of several books, including his 1996 memoir, "The Way of the Explorer."
Two daughters, three adopted sons and nine grandchildren are among family who survive him.
The family told The Palm Beach Post newspaper that Mitchell died at a West Palm Beach hospital after a short illness.

Copyright © 2016 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

By William Harwood CBS News February 5, 2016, 4:53 PM
Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell, sixth man on the moon, dies at 85
Last Updated Feb 5, 2016 5:19 PM EST
Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon, died Thursday night after a short illness, one day before the 45th anniversary of his landing in the hilly Fra Mauro region of the moon with crewmate Alan Shepard. He was 85.
Famous for attempting an experiment in extra-sensory perception on his way back from the moon, Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973 "to support consciousness research and promote awareness of evolving human consciousness," the family said in a statement released by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
Edgar Mitchell
NASA
It was a lifelong interest.
Andrew Chaikin, author of "A Man On The Moon -- The Voyages Of The Apollo Astronauts," said in a recent interview with CBS News that Mitchell was "super bright" and "an intellectual."
"Just a real lover of ideas," Chaikin said. "It shows in his post-NASA career because he pursued this question of consciousness and the nature of consciousness. On his flight, he had kind of a mountain-top experience where on the flight home, looking at the Earth, he felt that he was experiencing the universe as an intelligent entity, almost an organism. And that really changed him."
Mitchell had long been curious about psychic phenomena, Chaikin said, and after leaving NASA "he devoted much of his energies to trying to understand whether or not consciousness could be described in some scientific way and whether information could be transmitted in some way through the universe."
"These were the questions that occupied him," he said. "Really unique in that way among the Apollo astronauts."
In the family statement released by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, Mitchell's daughter Karlyn remembered her father as a man of "extraordinary talents and tremendous fortune."
"He was a hero in the classical sense," she said. "Though he fulfilled his childhood dreams while still a young man, he managed to sustain an aura of excitement by evolving and reinventing himself. He never tired of encouraging others to strive and explore."
Born Sept. 17, 1930, Mitchell grew up in Artesia, N.M., near Roswell and learned to fly as a teenager, washing planes at a nearby airfield in exchange for flying lessons. As a Navy pilot, he completed two tours of duty during the Korean War and went on to earn a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964.
Two years later, he completed test pilot training at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., graduating first in his class. That same year, he was selected as a NASA astronaut.
After extensive training and a stint as a backup crew member for the Apollo 10 mission, Mitchell was named lunar module pilot for Apollo 14, NASA's fourth moon-landing mission and the first after the Apollo 13 crew suffered a near catastrophic explosion en route to the moon.
On Jan. 31, 1971, Mitchell, Alan Shepard and Stuart Roosa blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center aboard a Saturn V rocket and headed for the moon. On Feb. 5, leaving Roosa, the command module pilot, behind in lunar orbit aboard the Kitty Hawk capsule, Shepard and Mitchell descended to a landing in the Frau Mauro highlands.

A picture taken on February 6, 1971 shows Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 lunar module pilot, moving across the lunar surface while looking over a traverse map during extravehicular activity (EVA).
NASA/AFP/Getty Images
During a 33-hour 31-minute stay on the surface, Shepard and Mitchell carried out two moonwalks totaling a record nine hours and 17 minutes and collected nearly 100 pounds of rock and soil samples for return to Earth. During their stay on the surface, Shepard famously hit a golf ball with an improvised six iron and Mitchell threw a jury rigged javelin to demonstrate the moon's low gravity.
Mitchell and his crewmates returned to Earth on Feb. 9, logging 216 hours and 42 minutes in space. Shepard, one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, died in 1998 after a successful post-NASA business career. Roosa died in 1994.
"It's the 45th Anniv of the #Apollo14 landing on the moon & yesterday we lost another Lunar Pioneer Edgar Mitchell," Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted.
Mitchell was "a good complement to Shepard on Apollo 14 because Shepard had been away from training for a few years and Mitchell really understood the lunar module and could help bring Shepard along in the training," Chaikin said. "Mitchell told me the story of one day in the simulator turning to Shepard and saying 'OK, boss, you're ready.'"
35 Photos
Views of space from Apollo

Asked how other astronauts viewed Mitchell's interest in psychic phenomena, Chaikin said "oh, they joked about it. That was pretty much the reaction."
"I think it's fascinating," he said. "I think he was on to something. This idea ... that there's some way in which information is stored in the fabric of spacetime, I think that's a pretty cool idea"
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden remembered Mitchell as "one of the pioneers in space exploration on whose shoulders we now stand." In a statement, Bolden said:
"As a member of the Apollo 14 crew, Edgar is one of only 12 men to walk on the moon and he helped to change how we view our place in the universe.
"Edgar spoke poetically about seeing our home planet from the moon saying: 'Suddenly, from behind the rim of the moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth ... home.'"
In the family statement provided to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, adopted daughter Kimberly Mitchell said her brother and sisters "consider ourselves so blessed to have had the Dad we did."
"He was incredibly generous with his heart and his brain, making each of us a better person because we knew him and were shaped by him," she said. "The lessons of hard work, integrity, curiosity, as well as a deep understanding that all things are possible, is embedded in each of us," she said.
Mitchell retired from NASA in 1971 and founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences two years later.
"In retirement Mitchell wrote extensively on human consciousness," the family said. "His book 'Psychic Exploration: A Challenge for Science' (1974) became an essential reference for consciousness researchers. Mitchell's 'The Way of the Explorer' (1996) offers an autobiographical account of his interest in human consciousness.
"Additionally, Mitchell authored dozens of articles in professional and popular periodicals. His writings reflect his wonder at the beauty of the universe and his belief in the sanctity of life."
Mitchell is survived by daughters Karlyn and Elizabeth Kendall; his adopted children Kimberly, Paul Mitchell and Mary Beth Johnson, nine grandchildren, one great-grandchild and several nieces and nephews.
Arrangements for a memorial service were pending Friday afternoon. The family requested, in lieu of flowers, donations to the Astronaut Scholarship Fund, the Institute for Noetic Sciences or Eterna Inc.
© 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Universe Today Space and astronomy news

6th Man on Moon Edgar Mitchell, Dies at 85 on Eve of 45th Lunar Landing Anniversary - Universe Today
Ken Kremer
Apollo 14 astronaut crew, including Moonwalkers Alan B. Shepard Jr., mission commander (first) and Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot (last), and Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot (middle) walk out to the astrovan bringing them to the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Julian Leek
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the Moon, passed away on Thursday, Feb. 4, on the eve of the 45th anniversary of his Apollo 14 mission lunar landing.
Mitchell passed away in West Palm Beach, Fla., just 1 day prior to the 45th anniversary of the Feb. 5, 1971 landing of Apollo 14's Lunar Module "Antares."
Mitchell was accompanied by Apollo 14 commander Alan Shephard, Jr., the first American in space, for the descent to the Moon's surface inside "Antares."
Meanwhile the third Apollo 14 crewmember command module pilot Stuart A. Roosa, flew solo in orbit around the moon while remaining inside the Command and Service Module "Kitty Hawk" during the lunar landing trek by his two crewmates.
Shephard and Mitchell safely touched down in the Fra Mauro highlands on Feb. 5, 1971 and spent a record 33 hours on the Moon.
"It's the 45th Anniv of the #Apollo14 landing on the moon & yesterday we lost another Lunar Pioneer Edgar Mitchell," tweeted Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon along with humanities first moon walker Neil Armstrong, during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 lunar module pilot stands by the deployed U.S. flag on the lunar surface during the early moments of the mission's first spacewalk. He was photographed by astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., mission commander. While astronauts Shepard and Mitchell descended in the Lunar Module "Antares" to explore the Fra Mauro region of the moon, astronaut Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Module "Kitty Hawk" in lunar orbit. Credits: NASA
Apollo 14 marked NASA's third successful lunar landing mission, following the ill fated Apollo 13 mission, which abandoned its originally planned third moon landing flight after a sudden in flight emergency and explosion in the service module on the way to the Moon.
Apollo 14 launched on Jan. 31, 1971 from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on a 9 day mission to the Moon and back.
Altogether only 12 humans, all American's, have walked on the Moon during a total of six NASA lunar landing missions in the 1960s and 1970s. No human has visited the Moon since the Apollo 17 lunar landing in 1972.
"On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.
"As a member of the Apollo 14 crew, Edgar is one of only 12 men to walk on the moon and he helped to change how we view our place in the universe."
These three astronauts are the prime crew of the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission. They are Alan B. Shepard Jr., center, commander; Stuart A. Roosa, left, command module pilot; and Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot. The Apollo 14 emblem is in the background. Credit: NASA
The lead photo was taken by long time space photographer Julian Leek, who was an eyewitness as the Apollo 14 crew departed the Operations and Checkout (O & C) Building at the Kennedy Space Center to board the astrovan transporting them to the launch pad 39. Leek's historic photos are shared exclusively with Universe Today.
"Again we were off to the moon with Apollo 14 this was my 5th mission to take photographs on a freelance basis, Leek told Universe Today exclusively.
"The crowds at the O & C building for walk out for Apollo 14, had the same excitement as for Apollo 11 as NASA had just recovered from the near loss of Apollo 13."
Another photo from Leek shows the Apollo 14 spacecraft and the Saturn V Moon rocket at the launch pad prior to lift off on Jan. 31, 1971.
"Every mission was different but on this mission had the first man in space as the commander Alan Shepard," Leek told me.
"Those days we used film so it was always a race to see who could get it processed the fastest and out to the news services. I have covered Apollo , shuttle and unmanned launches from KSC and CCAFS since 1968."
The 363-foot tall Apollo 14 launch vehicle prior to lift off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 31, 1971. The crew comprised astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell. Credit: Julian Leek
Shepard and Mitchell were assigned to traverse the lunar surface to deploy scientific instruments and perform a communications test on the surface, as well as photograph the lunar surface and any deep space phenomena, according to a NASA description.
"Mitchell and Shephard set mission records for the time of the longest distance traversed on the lunar surface; the largest payload returned from lunar surface; and the longest lunar stay time (33 hours). They were also the first to transmit color TV from the lunar surface."
"Mitchell helped collect 94 pounds of lunar rock and soil samples that were distributed across 187 scientific teams in the United States and 14 other countries for analysis."
The Apollo 14 mission ended with a splashdown on Feb. 9, 1971 at 3:04:39 p.m. (CST) in the South Pacific Ocean, approximately 765 nautical miles from American Samoa.
Mitchell applied to be an astronaut after President Kennedy issued his famous 1961 call to send astronauts to the moon "before this decade is out."
"After Kennedy announced the moon program, that's what I wanted, because it was the bear going over the mountain to see what he could see, and what could you learn, and I've been devoted to that, to exploration, education, and discovery since my earliest years, and that's what kept me going," Mitchell said in 1997 interview for NASA's oral history program.
"To me, that (spaceflight) was the culmination of my being, and what can I learn from this? What is it we are learning? That's important, because I think what we're trying to do is discover ourselves and our place in the cosmos, and we don't know. We're still looking for that."
In his book "The Way of the Explorer", Mitchell wrote, "There was a sense that our presence as space travelers, and the existence of the universe itself, was not accidental but that there was an intelligent process at work."
Mitchell retired from NASA in 1973 and resided in Palm Beach County, Florida, since 1975. He is survived by his four daughters, Karlyn Mitchell, Elizabeth Kendall, Kimberly Mitchell, Mary Beth Johnson; two sons, Paul Mitchell and Adam Mitchell; and nine grandchildren.
© Copyright 2016 Universe Today

Edgar Mitchell, Sixth Astronaut to Walk on the Moon, Dies at 85
By Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor | February 5, 2016 03:41pm ET

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Edgar Mitchell, seen here prior to his launch on NASA's Apollo 14 mission in 1971, died on Feb. 5, 2016 at age 85.
Credit: NASA
Edgar Mitchell, who 45 years ago became the sixth man to walk on the moon, died on Thursday (Feb. 4), the day before the anniversary of his lunar landing. He was 85.
The lunar module pilot on board NASA's Apollo 14 mission in 1971, Edgar Mitchell died peacefully in his sleep after a short illness at a hospice facility located near his home in West Palm Beach, Fla., his family confirmed.
"He was a hero in the classical sense," Karlyn Mitchell, the astronaut's oldest daughter, said in statement. "Though he fulfilled his childhood dreams while still a young man, he managed to sustain an aura of excitement by evolving and reinventing himself. He never tired of encouraging others to strive and explore." [Edgar Mitchell: The Sixth Man on the Moon]
"My brother and sisters consider ourselves so blessed to have had the Dad we did," added Kimberly Mitchell, oldest of his adopted children. "He was incredibly generous with his heart and his brain, making each of us a better person because we knew him and were shaped by him."
For nine hours over the course of two moonwalks, Mitchell explored the Fra Mauro highlands with the commander of Apollo 14, Alan Shepard. Flying to and from the moon with Stuart Roosaon the command module Kitty Hawk, Mitchell and Shepard achieved the third U.S. moon landing on Feb. 5, 1971, but not before problems aboard the lunar module Antares almost caused an abort, twice.
'Whew, that was close'
"We noticed as we were on our last circuit of the moon before starting down, while checking out the lunar module and getting ready, that the abort light came on in the lunar module," said Mitchell in a 1997 NASA interview. "And that was a surprise. It shouldn't do that."
The false signal was about to become a real problem after the descent engine fired, as it would have led the on board computer to command an auto-abort. After a scramble by flight controllers back on Earth, Mitchell was able to enter a software fix, comprising more than 80 keystrokes, just in time.
"We had something like 30 seconds to spare when we got all of that done, and we started de-orbit then and fired the engines to start down, with just a few seconds left to spare and it worked," Mitchell recounted. [How NASA's Apollo Moon Landings Worked (Infographics)]
It was not long though, before another problem arose.
"It was one crisis to the next in that last two hours," said Mitchell. "When we got down to 20,000 feet [6,100 m], we had no landing radar, and that caused another emergency with about 90 to 100 seconds to go ... because we had to – at 10,000 feet [3,050 m] – abort if we didn't have landing radar."
Fortunately, a call from the ground to try cycling the radar's circuit breaker worked, restoring access to the altitude and vertical descent speed data needed to safely land.
"Whew, that was close," Mitchell radioed Mission Control.
Less than six minutes later, the Antares had safely landed, and less than six hours later, Mitchell was on the surface.
"Okay, Ed. We can see you coming down the ladder now," Mission Control radioed as Mitchell followed Shepard onto the lunar surface.
"And it's very great to be coming down," replied Mitchell, before he jumped off the ladder's bottom rung to the lunar module's footpad. "That last one is a long one."
A climb and a throw
Deploying scientific instruments and collecting almost 95 pounds (43 kilograms) of moon rocks — in part by using a pull cart (the modular equipment transporter, or informally, the "lunar rickshaw") only used on Apollo 14, Mitchell and Shepard came within 100 feet [30 m] of the rim of Cone Crater, a mission objective — without realizing how close they really were.
"Our positions are all in doubt now," reported Mitchell, after he and Shepard had climbed up the crater's side for some time. "What we were looking at was a flank ... but it wasn't really the top of ... it wasn't the rim of Cone. We have got a ways to go yet."
Ultimately, flight controllers directed pair to give up on the rim and return to the lunar module.
Before going back in inside though, Mitchell and Shepard allowed for a moment of levity. Shepard famously revealed his makeshift golf club, taking a couple of swings at "little white pellets." Not to be outdone, Mitchell became the first and only javelin thrower on the moon.
"When Alan hit his golf balls and I kvetched... I then picked up the staff from the solar wind experiment, which we had already folded up and put in the return bay, and used that tall staff as a javelin and threw it after his golf ball," Mitchell recounted.
Mitchell, Shepard and Roosa returned to Earth on Feb. 9, 1971. On their way home, Mitchell, without the knowledge of his fellow crew mates, privately conducted extrasensory perception (ESP) experiments, which became public after they splashed down.
"It was in the paper, and [Shepard] was laughing and said, 'Ed, what's this all about?'" Mitchell described in the NASA interview. "I said, 'Sorry, boss. That's the way it happened.'"
Shepard responded with an expletive.
"That was his response, and nothing more was ever said," Mitchell recalled, laughing.
With Apollo 14 back on the Earth, Mitchell logged a total of nine days and one hour in space, 33 hours and 31 minutes of it on the moon. It was his only spaceflight.
Aiming for space
Born Sept. 17, 1930 in Hereford, Texas, Edgar Dean Mitchell considered Artesia, New Mexico his hometown.
Mitchell received bachelor of science degrees in industrial management and aeronautical engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 1952 and 1961 and a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964.
He entered the U.S. Navy in 1952 and was commissioned as an ensign a year later. He completed flight training and was assigned to Patrol Squadron 29 deployed to Okinawa. Assigned to Heavy Attack Squadron Two in 1957, he flew off the aircraft carriers USS Bon Homme Richard and USS Ticonderoga.
It was also in 1957, with the former Soviet Union's launch of the world's first satellite, that Mitchell knew he wanted to be an astronaut.
"I was on a carrier in the Pacific, just about to come back to the States for some test pilot work, and when Sputnik went up I realized humans were going to be right behind it, so I started orienting my career toward that at that time," Mitchell said.
To gain the qualifications he thought would be attractive to NASA, he served as a research pilot and as the chief of the project management division of the Navy field office for the military's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) project.
"Although I was flying as a test pilot in research and R&D programs, I also finagled my way to Edwards [AFB, Calif.], where I went through their space school while I was also an instructor for the MOL astronauts," Mitchell described.
Apollo 13, before Apollo 14
It took nine years, but in 1966 he was selected as a NASA astronaut with the agency's fifth group of trainees, dubbed the "Original 19." His classmates included Roosa, as well as future moonwalkers Charles Duke and James Irwin.
Prior to his own flight assignment, Mitchell served on the support crew for Apollo 9 and as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 10, the latter a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
Originally assigned to fly on Apollo 13, Mitchell, along with Shepard and Roosa, were moved to Apollo 14 to give the almost all-rookie crew more time to train (Shepard, the first American astronaut in space, had only 15 minutes of flight time on his Mercury mission).
When the Apollo 13 crew launched and "had a problem" in April 1970, Mitchell worked in a simulator to figure out how to fly the lunar module with a command module attached.
"We'd never done that before," recalled Mitchell. "It wasn't obvious that we knew how to do it."
"How were these guys going to manually fly that monster and get home?" he said.
For his work, Mitchell was honored alongside other Apollo 13 team members by President Nixon with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.
Following his own successful Apollo 14 flight to the moon, Mitchell served as a backup for the Apollo 16 crew before retiring from NASA and the U.S. Navy in 1972.
Apollo 14 moonwalker Ed Mitchell poses next to the American flag that he and Alan Shepard planted on the moon in February 1971.
Credit: NASA
Last of his crew
Building on his earlier interest in ESP, Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973 to sponsor research in the nature of consciousness and other phenomena. In that role, Mitchell spoke about his belief in UFOs, though noted he had never seen one personally.
Mitchell co-founded the Association of Space Explorers, a professional society for the international community of men and women who had flown into space, and served on the board of directors of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation which awards students pursuing science and engineering degrees.
Mitchell authored several books, including "The Way of the Explorer" and a children's book, "Earthrise: My Adventures as an Apollo 14 Astronaut."
In addition to the Medal of Freedom, Mitchell was awarded NASA and U.S Navy distinguished service medals, among other honors. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1979 and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.
In 2006, NASA presented Mitchell with a moon rock, as a part of the agency's Ambassador of Exploration award. He in turn donated the award for display at the South Florida Science Museum in West Palm Beach.
With Mitchell's death, all three members of the Apollo 14 crew are now deceased (Roosa died in 1994 and Shepard died in 1998). Mitchell's passing now leaves only seven of the 12 Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon living.
Mitchell is survived by two daughters, Karlyn Mitchell and Elizabeth Kendall; his adopted children Kimberly Mitchell, Paul Mitchell and Mary Beth Johnson; nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Mitchell was preceded in death by his son, Adam B. Mitchell.
See more photographs of Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 moonwalker, at collectSPACE.com.
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