Curated playlist
20th-century American explorers
- Pete ConradPete Conrad's first words on the Moon were a joke he had bet $500 on.
- Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest, then gave a 90-minute speech. It happened in Milwaukee in October 1912.
- Gene CernanGene Cernan wrote his daughter's initials in the lunar dust before leaving the Moon. He was the last person there.
- Buzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin's first words on the Moon were "Beautiful view." Years later he was selling used cars.
- Alan ShepardAn inner ear disease grounded astronaut Alan Shepard for years before he walked on the Moon.
- Neil ArmstrongNeil Armstrong's astronaut application came about a week late, until a colleague slipped it into the pile.
- John Young (astronaut)John Young walked on the Moon and later commanded the first Space Shuttle mission. He is the only person to do both.
- David ScottDavid Scott dropped a hammer and a feather on the Moon. The Apollo 15 commander did it on live television.
- Alan BeanAlan Bean walked on the Moon, then quit NASA to paint it. He pressed Moon dust from his suit patches into canvases.
- Edgar MitchellApollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell had a spiritual awakening on his way home from the Moon.
- Harrison SchmittHarrison Schmitt was the only professional geologist to walk on the Moon. He flew on Apollo 17 in 1972.
- James IrwinAfter walking on the Moon, astronaut James Irwin spent years searching for Noah's Ark.
- Charles DukeCharles Duke walked on the Moon at 36, and no one younger has ever done it.
- Richard E. ByrdRichard E. Byrd, an American naval officer, spent 13 minutes circling a patch of Arctic sky on the 9th of May 1926. Then he turned for home. By his own account, he had just reached the North Pole. The round trip took 15 hours and 57…