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Alan Bean

Alan Bean was selected as an astronaut in 1963. During his 18-year NASA career, he achieved many accomplishments, including being the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 12 and commander of the Skylab II mission. Alan was born in Wheeler, TX, in 1932. He was selected for a NROTC Scholarship at the University of Texas, Austin. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in 1955 and entered the Navy. He became a Naval Aviator and was assigned to Jet Attack Squadron 44 in Jacksonville, FL. In 1960, he was selected for Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, MD. Alan spent three exciting years as a test pilot flying almost every type of plane in Navy service. His interest in art drove him to enroll in night art classes at nearby St. Mary's College. In 1963, Alan was selected as a NASA astronaut. He became the Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 12 mission, and became the fourth man to set foot on the moon. He and Pete Conrad performed two moon walks, gathered 75 pounds of soil and rock samples, and inspected the Surveyor 3 unmanned probe that had landed in the Ocean of Storms two years earlier. In 1973, he again flew in space as spacecraft commander of the Skylab Mission II. This mission lasted fifty-nine days and traveled 24.4 million miles. His crew accomplished 150 percent of their... Next

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