Ronald Evans (astronaut)

• 1. Kansas Roots And Naval Wings

  ›

  Ronald Ellwin Evans Jr. was born on the 10th of November 1933, in St. Francis, Kansas. His father Clarence served in the Navy during World War II. The family moved to Topeka when Evans was a boy seeking medical care for his brother Larry's liver cancer. Larry died in 1951 and his parents separated shortly after. Evans attended Highland Park High School where he played football as an All-Conference guard. He joined the Sigma Nu fraternity at the University of Kansas to secure a scholarship from the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. Selling Chesterfield cigarettes helped fund his education while he studied electrical engineering. A summer cruise on a destroyer minelayer to Europe inspired him to become a naval aviator. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in June 1956.

• 2. Vietnam Combat And Flight Hours

  ›

  Evans flew combat missions over South Vietnam aboard the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga starting in September 1965. His aircraft suffered ground fire holes during these sorties. On one mission his plane collided with wingman Lieutenant Roy E. Miller causing severe damage that required shipping back to the United States. Later that month he faced an electrical failure leaving a bomb under his right wing unable to jettison. He skidded off the end of a wet Marston Mat runway at Cam Ranh Air Force Base but the bomb did not explode. Evans logged 2,084 hours of flight time including 4,600 hours in jet aircraft. He completed 112 combat missions before flying his last patrol on the 21st of April 1966. The Navy awarded him gold 5/16 inch stars for five Air Medals during a ceremony on the Ticonderoga's flight deck.

• 3. Selection And Support Crew Duties

  ›

  NASA announced recruitment for pilot astronauts on the 10th of September 1965 while Evans was deployed in the Western Pacific. His wife Jan received forms from BUPERS explaining the recommendation. Evans mailed them on December 7 despite being on active duty. He passed medical tests at Brooks Air Force Base and interviews at the Rice Hotel in Houston. NASA selected nineteen astronauts in April 1966 including Evans. Deke Slayton assigned him as a Command Module Specialist rather than Lunar Module Pilot. Evans served on support crews for Apollo 1 and Apollo 7. On the 26th of January 1967 he worked inside the Apollo spacecraft preparing checklists and procedures. Hours later the prime crew died in a fire inside their capsule. Evans continued supporting Apollo 11 and Apollo 14 as a capsule communicator or CAPCOM.

• 4. Apollo 17 Prime Crew Assignment

  ›

  The prime crew of Apollo 17 was publicly announced on the 13th of August 1971. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt joined Evans as Command Module Pilot. They studied geology with Farouk El-Baz often flying over features in T-38 Talon jets to practice observations. The flight plan kept Evans busy making him oversleep by an hour one morning. Before the lunar module departed for the surface he misplaced his scissors needed to open food packets. Cernan and Schmitt lent him theirs. While they explored the Taurus-Littrow valley Evans remained in lunar orbit aboard the Command Module America. He performed visual geological observations and controlled sophisticated scientific equipment carried in the service module's SIM bay. His crewmates nicknamed him Captain America after the comic book character.

• 5. Orbital Records And Scientific Data

  ›

  Evans completed 75 orbits around the Moon during the mission lasting 147 hours and 43 minutes. This remains the record for most time spent in lunar orbit alone. He circularized the spacecraft's elliptical orbit to maintain a consistent distance above the surface. Ten assigned visual targets were successfully identified including craters Eratosthenes and Copernicus. He photographed Mare Orientale using Earthlight exposure techniques when the sun obscured the moon. The instruments in the SIM bay functioned without major hindrance despite minor antenna issues. One sounder antenna stalled during extension but deployed fully anyway. The mapping camera took four minutes to extend instead of the nominal two minutes. Evans fired the SPS engine for about 20 seconds to adjust the orbital plane for rendezvous with the returning lunar module.

• 6. Deep Space Film Retrieval EVA

  ›

  During the return flight to Earth Evans conducted an extravehicular activity lasting one hour five minutes and 44 seconds. He made three trips to the scientific instrument module bay to retrieve film cassettes from the lunar sounder and panoramic camera. For this spacewalk he donned Cernan's lunar visor assembly with its red stripe plus part of his backpack. A movie camera recorded the event while a TV camera televised it live to Earth. This marked the third deep space EVA performed by any human. It remains the spacewalk conducted at the greatest distance from any planetary body. After 301 hours 51 minutes and 59 seconds of flight America splashed down in the Pacific Ocean where the Ticonderoga retrieved them. Evans asked for a cigarette immediately upon boarding the ship.

• 7. Post-NASA Life And Death

  ›

  Evans retired from the U.S. Navy as captain on the 30th of April 1976 after 21 years of service. He remained active developing the Space Shuttle program until the 8th of March 1977 when he left NASA. Jan moved to Scottsdale Arizona seeking a job there. Evans became director of marketing at Western America Energy Corporation but quit due to disillusionment. He worked for Sperry Flight Systems making electronic components before forming his own consulting company. He partnered with a Japanese entrepreneur building a theme park devoted to space exploration. Evans died in his sleep of a heart attack at his home in Scottsdale on the 6th of April 1990. He was buried at Valley Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden in Paradise Valley. His wife Jan leaves a red rose on anniversaries of his birth marriage spaceflight and death.