Alan Bean

• 1. Texas Boyhood And Engineering Roots

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  Alan LaVern Bean was born on the 15th of March 1932 in Wheeler, Texas. His parents were Arnold Horace Bean and Frances Caroline Bean. They lived in the northeastern Panhandle region of the state. He later considered Fort Worth his hometown despite moving to Minden, Louisiana as a child. His father worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service there. Bean became a Boy Scout and earned First Class rank before graduating from R. L. Paschal High School in 1949. He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve immediately after high school graduation. The young man received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1955. He attended that university on a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship. While studying he joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

• 2. Naval Aviator And Test Pilot School

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  Bean served as an Electronics Technician Striker at NAS Dallas until September 1950. He was honorably discharged then but returned to service years later. In January 1955 he was commissioned as a U.S. Navy ensign through the NROTC program. Flight training concluded in June 1956 with him earning naval aviator wings. He flew fighter jets including the F9F Cougar and A4D Skyhawk for Attack Squadron 44. This tour lasted four years at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. Bean graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in November 1960. Pete Conrad taught him there before they would fly together decades later. He logged more than 7,145 hours of flying time during his career. Over 4,890 of those hours were spent piloting jet aircraft alone.

• 3. Selection Into Astronaut Group Three

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  NASA selected Alan Bean as part of Astronaut Group 3 in 1963. He had not been chosen for the previous group two years earlier. His first assignment involved backup command pilot duties for Gemini 10. Bean failed to secure an early Apollo flight assignment initially. He worked within the Apollo Applications Program while waiting for a lunar role. He became the first astronaut to dive in the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator. Fellow astronaut Clifton Williams died in an air crash creating a vacancy. Commander Pete Conrad personally requested Bean replace Williams on the backup crew for Apollo 9. Bean eventually transitioned from these support roles into becoming the Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 12.

• 4. Apollo 12 And The Ocean Of Storms

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  Bean flew aboard Apollo 12 in November 1969 as the second crewed mission to land on the Moon. He and Pete Conrad landed on the Ocean of Storms after traveling 250,000 miles. A lightning strike struck the spacecraft just 36 seconds after launch. Bean executed John Aaron's instruction to restore telemetry by switching SCE to Aux. This action salvaged the entire mission despite the electrical chaos. They spent over seven hours walking on the lunar surface during two excursions. Bean deployed several experiments and installed the first nuclear power generator station on the Moon. Dick Gordon remained in orbit photographing landing sites for future missions. Bean planned to take a photo with a self-timer but could not find it at Surveyor III.

• 5. Skylab Three Command And Spacewalks

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  Alan Bean commanded Skylab 3 from July 29 to the 25th of September 1973. His crewmates were scientist-astronaut Owen Garriott and Marine Corps Colonel Jack R. Lousma. The team stayed aboard the space station for 59 days total. They covered a world-record distance of 24.4 million miles during that time. Bean tested a prototype of the Manned Maneuvering Unit outside the vessel. He performed one spacewalk while managing all station systems. The crew accomplished 150 percent of their assigned mission goals. Bean logged 1,671 hours and 45 minutes in space across his NASA career. Ten hours and 26 minutes were spent performing extravehicular activities on the Moon or Earth orbit.

• 6. Resignation And Lunar Dust Paintings

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  Bean resigned from NASA in June 1981 to focus entirely on painting. He stated he had visited worlds no artist's eye has ever viewed firsthand. He wanted to express these experiences through art rather than engineering. Bean decided to add color to the Moon without ruining its scientific integrity. His paintings showed shades of various colors instead of monotonous gray landscapes. He used real Moon dust collected from keepsake patches on his space suit. Tiny pieces of those dirty patches made each painting unique. He also incorporated a hammer used to pound the flagpole into the lunar surface. A bronzed Moon boot provided texture for some of his canvases. He exhibited lunar paintings at the Smithsonian Institution in July 2009.

• 7. Awards And Hall Of Fame Inductions

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  Bean received numerous decorations including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal twice. He earned the Rear Admiral William S. Parsons Award for Scientific and Technical Progress. The Godfrey L. Cabot Award was presented to him in 1970. Bean was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983. He joined the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997. The International Air & Space Hall of Fame honored him in 2010. The National Aviation Hall of Fame added his name that same year. Bean received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Texas Wesleyan College in 1972. An Honorary Doctorate of Engineering Science came from the University of Akron in 1974. He died on the 26th of May 2018 in Houston, Texas at age 86. His body was interred in Arlington National Cemetery on the 8th of November 2018.