Curated playlist
United States Naval Aviators
- Pete ConradPete Conrad's first words on the Moon were a joke he had bet $500 on.
- Jim LovellJim Lovell flew to the Moon twice and never set foot on it. His second trip, Apollo 13, nearly ended in disaster.
- Roger B. ChaffeeRoger Chaffee passed his Navy pilot's eye exam only because a doctor let him retake it the next morning.
- Walter CunninghamWalter Cunningham sat in the lunar module pilot seat on a spacecraft with no lunar module. It was Apollo 7.
- Gene CernanGene Cernan wrote his daughter's initials in the lunar dust before leaving the Moon. He was the last person there.
- Fred HaiseFred Haise came within days of becoming the sixth person to walk on the Moon. Then Apollo 13's oxygen tank ruptured.
- 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.
- Wally SchirraAstronaut Wally Schirra refused Mission Control's request to wear helmets.
- Ken MattinglyKen Mattingly was pulled from Apollo 13 for measles he never got. He then helped from Mission Control to save the crew.
- 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.
- Richard F. Gordon Jr.Richard Gordon orbited the Moon 45 times on Apollo 12 but never walked on it.
- Ronald Evans (astronaut)Ronald Evans is the last person to orbit the Moon alone. He circled it 75 times while two crewmates walked below.