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Charles "Pete" Conrad was the third person to walk on the surface of the moon. The Commander of Apollo 12, an all Navy crew, Capt. Conrad was able to land the LM with near perfect accuracy. Born June 2, 1930, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pete Conrad died July 8, 1999, from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Ojai, California. His wife, Nancy helped pen the book Rocketman, an exciting and humorous biography of Pete Conrad.

SHORT BIO:

Following graduation from Princeton University in 1953, Mr. Conrad entered the Navy and became a naval aviator. He then attended the Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, where he was assigned as a Project Test Pilot. Mr. Conrad also served as a flight instructor and performance engineer at the Test Pilot School. After completing his tour of duty at Patuxent River, he served as instructor pilot in F4H Phantoms on VF-121 and was then assigned duty in VF-96 on board USS Ranger.

In September of 1962, Mr. Conrad was selected as an astronaut by NASA. His first flight was Gemini V, which established the space endurance record and placed the United States in the lead for man-hours in space. As commander of Gemini XI, Mr. Conrad helped to set a world's altitude record. He then served as commander of Apollo 11, the second lunar landing. On Mr. Conrad's final mission, he served as commander of Skylab II, the first United States Space Station. -from NASA bio

Pete Conrad retired from the Navy after 20 years of service in December of 1973, 11 of which had been in the space program to work in the public sector. He was a great proponent of future Space Travel and Exploration and continued his love of air craft and flying. He was a man of great humor, after his death his memorial Christmas tree at the Cape was lit in colored lights instead of the traditional white that the other deceased astronauts have there. Pete had the philosophy that you should live life colorfully and he did just that daily!

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15y ago

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