Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr.
NASA Astronaut
Nationality	American
Born	June 2, 1930 Philadelphia, PA
Died	July 8, 1999 (age 69) Ojai, California
Other occupation	Test Pilot
Rank	Captain, USN
Space time	49d 03h 38m
Selection	1962 NASA Group
Missions	Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, Skylab 2
Mission insignia

Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999), was an American astronaut and the third man to walk on the moon. He served on Gemini 5 and 11, Apollo 12, and Skylab 2 missions, and may have been scheduled for the Apollo 20 mission, which was cancelled. Pete Conrad, NASA File Photo Charles Pete Conrad, Jr. ... Charles Pete Conrad, Jr. ... This article is about the American space agency. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... Look up Pa, PA, pa in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Downtown Ojai Ojai (pronounced O-High) is a city located in Ventura County, California. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Test pilots are aviators who fly new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated. ... Captain is a rank or title with various meanings. ... USN redirects here. ... 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... Gemini 5 (officially Gemini V) was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... Gemini 11 (officially Gemini XI) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. ... Skylab 2 or SL-2 was the first human spaceflight mission to Skylab, the first U.S. orbital space station. ... Image File history File links Gemini5insignia. ... Image File history File links Gemini_11_patch. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (759x756, 1013 KB)[1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Skylab1-Patch. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit outside the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984. ... Eugene Cernan operating the Lunar rover during Apollo 17 This is a list of all astronauts directly associated with NASAs Apollo program. ... Gemini 5 (officially Gemini V) was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... Gemini 11 (officially Gemini XI) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. ... Skylab 2 or SL-2 was the first human spaceflight mission to Skylab, the first U.S. orbital space station. ... Apollo 20 was a cancelled flight within the Apollo Program. ...

Early career

After attending The Haverford School, the Darrow School, and receiving a bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Princeton University in 1953 he entered the United States Navy, where he became a test pilot and later an instructor. He was one of the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 - he had previously been considered and turned down for the Mercury Seven, with the notation "not suitable for long-duration flight."^[1] The Haverford School is a private, non-sectarian, all-boys college preparatory day school, junior kindergarten through grade twelve. ... Students at the Summit of Mt. ... For other degrees, see Academic degree. ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering concerning aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... USN redirects here. ... Test pilots are aviators who fly new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated. ... NASAs Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, was the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in September 1962. ... This article is about the American space agency. ... Original seven Astronauts portrait (L-R: Schirra, Shepard, Slayton, Grissom, Glenn, Cooper, Carpenter) The Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts picked in April 1959. ...

NASA career

Gemini

Conrad preparing for water egress training in the Gemini Static Article 5 spacecraft.

Regarded as one of the best pilots in the group he was one of the first of his group to be assigned a Gemini mission. As pilot of Gemini 5 he, along with commander Gordon Cooper, set a new space endurance record of eight days - the time it would take to get to the moon and back - and tested many spacecraft systems essential to the Apollo program. Conrad was also one of the smallest of the astronauts in height (1.69 metres (5 feet 6½ inches^[2])) and build so he found the confinement of the Gemini capsule less onerous. He was then back-up commander for Gemini 8 and commander of Gemini 11, which docked with an Agena target immediately after achieving orbit, as would have to be done by Apollo lunar landing missions. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3010x1980, 1015 KB) [edit] Summary [edit] Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pete Conrad Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3010x1980, 1015 KB) [edit] Summary [edit] Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pete Conrad Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Gemini 5 (officially Gemini V) was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... Leroy Gordon Gordo Cooper, Jr. ... This article is about the series of human spaceflight missions. ... Gemini 8 (officially Gemini VIII) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ... Gemini 11 (officially Gemini XI) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASAs Gemini program. ...

Apollo

Conrad was due to be back-up commander of the first flight of the full Saturn V/Apollo into high earth orbit. When NASA created the Apollo 8 mission both prime and back-up crews were switched. Had it not been for this, Conrad would have been in line to command Apollo 11. For the moon designated Saturn V, see Rhea. ... Apollo 8 was the second successful manned mission of the Apollo space program, in which Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to orbit around the Moon. ... The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. ...

On 14 November 1969, Apollo 12 launched with Conrad as commander,Dick Gordon as Command Module Pilot and Alan Bean as Lunar Module Pilot. Five days later, after stepping onto the lunar surface, Conrad joked about his own small stature by remarking: is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. ... Richard F. Gordon, Jr. ... Alan LaVern Bean (born March 15, 1932 in Wheeler, Texas) is a former NASA Astronaut. ...

Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me.

He later revealed that this was in order to win a bet he had made with the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci for $500 to prove that NASA did not script astronaut comments.^[3] This article is about the former American astronaut. ... Oriana Fallaci Oriana Fallaci (born July 29, 1930) is an Italian journalist , author, and political interviewer. ...

Skylab

Conrad's last mission was commander of Skylab 2, the first crew aboard the space station. This crew had to repair damage caused by a mishap on launch of the station. On a spacewalk, Conrad managed to pull free the stuck solar panel by sheer brute force, which saved the rest of the mission, an action of which he was particularly proud.^[4] Skylab 2 or SL-2 was the first human spaceflight mission to Skylab, the first U.S. orbital space station. ...

Post-NASA

He retired from NASA and the Navy in 1973, and went to work for American Television and Communications Company. He worked for McDonnell Douglas from 1976, and during the 1990s he was the ground-based pilot for several test flights of the Delta Clipper experimental single stage to orbit launch vehicle. DC-10, retired from American Airlines fleet at gate McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. ... The Delta Clipper Advanced The McDonnell Douglas DC-X, better known as the Delta Clipper or Delta Clipper Experimental, was an unmanned prototype of a reusable single stage to orbit launch vehicle developed in conjunction with NASA and the DOD SDIO from 1991 to 1993. ... A single-stage-to-orbit (or SSTO) would be a vehicle that could achieve an orbital trajectory without dropping off any hardware, yet expending only propellants and fluids. ...

Conrad had a cameo role in the 1991 TV movie Plymouth.

On Valentine's Day, in 1996, Conrad was part of the crew on a record breaking around the world flight in a Learjet owned by cable TV pioneer, Bill Daniels. The flight lasted 49 hours, 26 minutes and 8 seconds. Today the jet is on permanent static display at Denver International Airport's Terminal C. Learjet is a manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use. ... // Robert W. Bill Daniels, the Father of Cable Television Childhood through enlistment- Bill was born July 1, 1920 in Greeley, Colorado and shortly thereafter moved to Hobbs, New Mexico. ... This article is about Denver International Airport. ...

In 2006, NASA posthumously awarded him the Ambassador of Exploration Award for his work for the agency and science. This article is about the American space agency. ...

Death

Less than three weeks before the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the first moon landing, while motorcycling in Ojai, California with friends, he ran off the road and crashed. His injuries were first thought to be minor, but he died from internal bleeding about six hours later. He was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery, with many Apollo-era astronauts in attendance. Downtown Ojai Ojai (pronounced ) is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

In Television and Film

In the 1995 film Apollo 13, Conrad was played by David Andrews. In the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, he was played by Peter Scolari (in episode 1, "Can We Do This?") and by Paul McCrane (in episode 7, "That's All There Is"). Apollo 13 is a 1995 film portrayal of the ill-fated Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970. ... David Andrews (born 1952) is an American actor. ... For other uses, see HBO (disambiguation). ... From the Earth to the Moon is 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. ... Peter Scolari (born September 12, 1955 in New Rochelle, New York) is an American television, film and stage actor who was seen early in his career in the television programs Bosom Buddies (1980 - 1982), Newhart (1984-1990), and later in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1997 - 2000). ... Paul McCrane as Dr. Romano on ER. Paul David McCrane (born January 19, 1961) is an American movie, television and theatre actor. ...

Quotes

"Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." — as he stepped onto the lunar surface for the first time.

A month before he died, Conrad appeared on ABC News Nightline and said, "I think the Space Shuttle is worth one billion dollars a launch. I think that it is worth two billion dollars for what it does. I think the Shuttle is worth it for the work it does." Nightline is a late-night hard and soft news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. ... This article is about the space vehicle. ...

Facts

Conrad was a member of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, started in 1774, the oldest Cavalry unit in continuous existence in the United States.

Pete Conrad Spirit Award

In May 2007 the X PRIZE Foundation announced the creation of the Pete Conrad Spirit Award, to be presented to "the high school team that develops the most creative, new space concept to benefit the emerging personal spaceflight industry." The award will be presented at the 2007 Wirefly X PRIZE Cup. The original Ansari X Prize was presented on November 6, 2004. ... The Wirefly X PRIZE logo combines a stylized letter X reminiscent of a space trajectory with stark, bold text. ...

External links

• NASA Bio of Pete Conrad
• Spacefacts biography of Pete Conrad

Notes