Alan LaVern Bean

Astronaut
Nationality:	American
Date of birth:	March 15, 1932
Place of birth:	Wheeler, Texas
Previous Occupation:	Test Pilot
Rank:	Captain, USN
Time Spent in Space:	69d 15h 45m
Selection:	1963 NASA Group
Mission(s):	Apollo 12, Skylab 3
Mission Insignia:

Alan LaVern Bean (born March 15, 1932 in Wheeler, Texas) is a former NASA Astronaut. I uploaded this NASA picture for use in the article on Alan Bean. ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Wheeler is a city located in Wheeler County, Texas. ... Official language(s) See: Languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 km²)  - Width 660 miles (1,065 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... Test pilots work on developing, evaluating and proving experimental aircraft. ... Captain is both a nautical term and a rank in various uniformed organizations. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1984 1985 1987 1990 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 2000 2003 2004 1958 June 25 - Man In Space Soonest - USA The first group of American astronaut candidates were selected... Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. ... Skylab 3 or SL-3 was the second manned mission to Skylab. ... AP12; nasa public domain File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Wheeler is a city located in Wheeler County, Texas. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit (MMU) outside the Challenger in 1984. ...

He graduated from Paschal High School in Fort Worth, Texas; received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1955 and after a four year tour as a fighter pilot trained as a Navy Test Pilot where his instructor was his future Apollo 12 Commander Pete Conrad. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of science from Texas Wesleyan College in 1972, and was presented an honorary doctorate of engineering science degree from the University of Akron (Ohio) in 1974. Fort Worth is the sixth-largest city in the state of Texas, located about 30 miles west of Dallas on the West Fork Trinity River and forming part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. ... Official language(s) See: Languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 km²)  - Width 660 miles (1,065 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering concerning aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. ... The University of Texas at Austin, often called UT or Texas, is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. ... Charles Pete Conrad, Jr. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... The University of Akron is an institution of higher learning located in Akron, Ohio. ...

Bean was selected by NASA as part of group 3 in 1963. He was selected to be the backup Command Pilot for Gemini 10 but was unsuccessful in securing an early Apollo flight assignment. When fellow astronaut Clifton Williams was killed in a training accident a space was opened for Bean on the back-up crew for Apollo 9. Gemini 10 (officially Gemini X) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... Clifton C.C. Williams (September 26, 1932 - October 5, 1967) was a NASA astronaut and USMC Major who was killed after a mechanical failure caused the flight controls in a T-38 he was piloting to stop responding. ... Apollo 9 was the third manned mission in the Apollo program, a ten day earth-orbital mission launched 3 March 1969. ...

Captain Bean was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, the second lunar landing. In November 1969, Captain Bean and Captain Pete Conrad landed in the moon's Ocean of Storms—after a flight of 250,000 miles. They explored the lunar surface, deployed several lunar surface experiments, and installed the first nuclear power generator station on the moon to provide the power source. Captain Richard Gordon remained in lunar orbit photographing landing sites for future missions. Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Charles Pete Conrad, Jr. ... The Ocean of Storms of the Moon. ... Twenty-four astronauts have been on or near the Moon. ... Richard F. Gordon, Jr. ...

Alan Bean on the moon during Apollo 12

Captain Bean was also the spacecraft commander of Skylab 3, the second manned mission to Skylab, July 29 to September 25, 1973. With him on the 59-day, 24,400,000 mile world record setting flight were scientist-astronaut Dr. Owen Garriott and Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Jack Lousma. During the mission Bean also tested a prototype of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and led three space walks totaling 13 hours. Download high resolution version (950x950, 187 KB)Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean holds a special environmental sample container which holds soil collected during the second moonwalk EVA. Commander Charles Pete Conrad had just put a soil sample in the tube with a shovel. ... Download high resolution version (950x950, 187 KB)Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean holds a special environmental sample container which holds soil collected during the second moonwalk EVA. Commander Charles Pete Conrad had just put a soil sample in the tube with a shovel. ... Skylab 3 or SL-3 was the second manned mission to Skylab. ... Drawing of Skylab with components labelled Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit. ... Owen Kay Garriott, Ph. ... Jack Robert Lousma [Colonel, USMC, Ret. ... U.S. astronaut Bruce McCandless uses a manned maneuvering unit A Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) is a rocket pack (propulsion backpack that snaps onto the back of the spacesuit) which has been used on spacewalks (EVAs) from NASAs space shuttle, allowing an astronaut to move independently from the shuttle. ...

On his next assignment, Captain Bean was backup spacecraft commander of the United States flight crew for the joint American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint flight of the US and Soviet space programs. ...

Captain Bean retired from the Navy in October 1975 but continued as head of the Astronaut Candidate Operations and Training Group within the Astronaut Office in a civilian capacity.

Bean resigned from NASA in June 1981 to devote his full time to painting. Many of his paintings reside on the walls of space enthusiasts. He said his decision was based on the fact that, in his 18 years as an astronaut, he was fortunate enough to visit worlds and see sights no artist's eye, past or present, has ever viewed firsthand and he hopes to express these experiences through the medium of art. He is pursuing this dream at his home and studio in Houston. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

He is married and has two grown children, a son and a daughter. An entire episode of the miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon was narrated from Bean's perspective; in this episode, he was portrayed by Dave Foley. From the Earth to the Moon was a twelve-part HBO television miniseries (1998) co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks, and Michael Bostick detailing the landmark Apollo expeditions to the Moon during the 1960s and early 1970s. ... Dave Foley. ...

Rock band Hefner have a song called Alan Bean, featuring the lyrics "Everyone will forget soon, The fourth man on the moon, But I've got it in my mind."
British band Lemon Jelly features the voice of Alan Bean (describing the sunrise, as seen during a spacewalk) in their song Spacewalk from the Album Lost Horizons Hefner were a British indie rock and urban folk band. ... Lemon Jelly is a musical collaboration between Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin. ... Astronaut Bruce McCandless on an untethered EVA Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth and outside of his or her spacecraft. ... Lost Horizons is the (Mercury Music Prize nominated) first studio album (second if you count the EP compliation Lemonjelly. ...

External links

• Alan Bean Online Gallery - An authorized gallery of all his paintings
• Alan Bean Astronaut Bio - NASA's biography of Bean
• Spacefacts biography of Alan Bean