Astronaut Charles Duke on lunar surface, April 1972

Charles Moss "Charlie" Duke, Jr. (born October 3, 1935 in Charlotte, North Carolina) is a former NASA Astronaut and one of only twelve men who have walked on the moon. Download high resolution version (640x647, 483 KB)http://grin. ... Download high resolution version (640x647, 483 KB)http://grin. ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in Leap years). ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... For other places or people named Charlotte, see Charlotte (disambiguation). ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which was established in 1958, is the agency responsible for the public space program of the United States of America. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ... Twenty-four astronauts have been on or near the Moon. ...

Duke graduated from the Naval Academy in 1957 and joined the Air Force - after training, he served as a fighter interceptor pilot for three years at Ramstein Air Base. He graduated from Aerospace Research Pilot School in September 1965 and remained there as an instructor until being selected for NASA's fifth group of 19 astronauts in April 1966. Teamwork: Fourth Class Midshipmen lock arms and use ropes made from uniform items as they brace themselves climbing the Herndon Monument The United States Naval Academy, or USNA, is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy. ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ramstein Air Base (located at 49°26. ... September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ...

Duke served as Capcom for Apollo 11 and as a result his distinctive southern drawl became familiar to viewers around the world. He was backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 13 - shortly before the mission, he caught German measles from a friend's child. He had therefore exposed it to the prime crew, which resulted in Ken Mattingly being replaced by Jack Swigert, as Mattingly had no natural immunity to the disease. During much of the U.S. manned space program, NASA felt it was important for all communication with the astronauts in space to pass through a single individual in the Mission Control Center. ... The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned lunar landing. ... Apollo 13 was an American space mission, part of the Apollo program. ... Rubella (also known as epidemic roseola, German measles or three-day measles) is a disease caused by the Rubella virus. ... Thomas Kenneth (Ken) Mattingly II (born March 17, 1936) is an American astronaut who flew on the Apollo 16, STS-4, and STS-51-C missions. ... John Leonard Jack Swigert, Jr. ...

In April 1972, Duke travelled to the Moon with John W. Young and Mattingly on Apollo 16. He and Young landed at the Descartes Highlands and conducted three EVAs. Duke was then the backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 17, and left NASA in December 1975. April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... John W. Young in 1986 John Watts Young (born September 24, 1930) is a former NASA astronaut who walked on the Moon on Apollo 16, April 21, 1972. ... Apollo 16 was the tenth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fifth mission to land on the Moon. ... EVA or Eva may refer to: Extra-vehicular activity, also known as a spacewalk. ... Apollo 17 was the eleventh manned space mission in the NASA Apollo program, and was the sixth and last mission to date to land on the Moon. ... December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

He is currently the owner of Duke Investments, President of Charlie Duke Enterprises and Duke Ministry For Christ (having become a Christian lay witness). He is married to the former Dorothy Clairborne, with two children, Charles and Thomas.

External link

• Astronaut Bio: Charles Duke 05/94 Official NASA biography