David Scott

Born: June 6, 1932, San Antonio

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.” 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 to Aug. 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, located on the southeast edge of the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). The lunar module “Falcon” remained on the 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 excursions onto the lunar surface. 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.

Military experience: Scott graduated fifth in a class of 633 at West Point and chose an Air Force career. He completed pilot training at Webb Air Force Base, Texas, in 1955 and 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, 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 5,600 hours of flying time.