‘One of our nation’s boldest fliers’: Apollo 12 astronaut Richard Gordon, who circled moon, dies
Gordon had been slated to command the Apollo 18 mission that would land on the moon, but it was cut for budget reasons
Former Apollo 12 astronaut Richard Gordon, one of a dozen men who flew around the moon but didn’t land there, has died, Nasa said. He was 88.
Richard Gordon Jnr was a test pilot chosen in Nasa’s third group of astronauts in 1963. He flew on Gemini 11 in 1966, walking in space twice. During Apollo 12 in November 1969, Gordon circled the moon in the command module Yankee Clipper while Alan Bean and Charles Conrad landed and walked on the lunar surface.
Gordon died Monday at his home in California, according to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
“Dick will be fondly remembered as one of our nation’s boldest fliers, a man who added to our own nation’s capabilities by challenging his own. He will be missed,” acting Nasa administrator Robert Lightfoot said in a statement Tuesday.
Dick will be fondly remembered as one of our nation’s boldest fliers
Born in Seattle, a Navy captain and a chemist, Gordon was such a steely professional that after a difficult first spacewalk, he fell asleep during a break in his second spacewalk. He downplayed Apollo 12 being hit by lightning during launch.