List of Apollo astronauts

Eugene Cernan operating the Lunar rover during Apollo 17

Forty-one astronauts were assigned to fly Apollo spacecraft; thirty-two of them were part of the Apollo program, with the rest not flying until the subsequent Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz programs. Twenty-four of the Apollo program astronauts left Earth’s orbit and flew around the Moon (Apollo 7 and Apollo 9 did not leave low Earth orbit).

Twelve of these astronauts walked on the Moon’s surface, and six of those drove a lunar rover on the Moon. While three astronauts flew to the Moon twice, none of them landed on the Moon more than once. The nine Apollo missions to the moon occurred between December of 1968 and December of 1972.

Apart from these twenty-four people who visited the Moon, no human being has gone beyond low Earth orbit. They have, therefore, been farther from the Earth than anyone else. They are also the only people to have directly viewed the far side of the Moon. The twelve who walked on the Moon are the only people ever to have set foot on an astronomical object other than the Earth.

Of the twenty-four lunar astronauts taking part in the Moon missions, two went on to command a Skylab mission, one commanded Apollo-Soyuz, one flew as commander for shuttle approach and landing tests and two went on to command orbital shuttle missions. A total of twenty-four Apollo-era astronauts (as well as pre-Apollo astronaut John Glenn) flew the space shuttle.

Project Apollo fatalities

Apollo 1 crew (L–R: Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee)

Although there were no in-flight fatalities in the Apollo program, three astronauts died in a ground test accident in what was later called Apollo 1.

1. Virgil "Gus" Grissom – according to Deke Slayton, who assigned crews to flights during most of Apollo, Grissom would have been his choice to be the first to walk on the Moon.^[1][2]
2. Edward White.
3. Roger B. Chaffee.

Other fatalities of Apollo astronauts

1. Edward Givens – car accident near Houston, Texas, on June 6, 1967; was on support crew of Apollo 7.
2. Clifton Williams – plane crash near Tallahassee, Florida, on October 5, 1967; was chosen as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 9.

Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon

Twelve people have walked on the Moon. All human landings took place between July of 1969 and December of 1972 as part of the Apollo program.

	Name	Born	Died	Age at first step	Mission	Lunar EVA dates	Employer
01.	Neil Armstrong	August 5, 1930		38y 11m 15d	Apollo 11	July 21, 1969[3]	NASA[4]
02.	Buzz Aldrin	January 20, 1930		39y 6m 0d			Air Force
03.	Pete Conrad	June 2, 1930	July 8, 1999	39y 5m 17d	Apollo 12	November 19–20, 1969	Navy
04.	Alan Bean	March 15, 1932		37y 8m 4d			Navy
05.	Alan Shepard	November 18, 1923	July 21, 1998	47y 2m 18d	Apollo 14	February 5–6, 1971	Navy
06.	Edgar Mitchell	September 17, 1930		40y 4m 19d			Navy
07.	David Scott	June 6, 1932		39y 1m 25d	Apollo 15	July 31 – August 2, 1971	Air Force
08.	James Irwin	March 17, 1930	August 8, 1991	41y 4m 14d			Air Force
09.	John W. Young	September 24, 1930		41y 6m 28d	Apollo 16	April 21–23, 1972	Navy
10.	Charles Duke	October 3, 1935		36y 6m 18d			Air Force
11.	Eugene Cernan	March 14, 1934		38y 9m 7d	Apollo 17	December 11–14, 1972	Navy
12.	Harrison Schmitt	July 3, 1935		37y 5m 8d			NASA

Regarding "the last man to walk on the Moon", Schmitt is the last person to arrive (as Cernan got out of the Apollo Lunar Module first), but Cernan is the last person to leave (after final EVA, Schmitt went inside the module first). Duke was the youngest, at age 36 (+6mo); Shepard was the oldest, at age 47 (+2mo).

James A. Lovell, John W. Young and Eugene Cernan are the only three astronauts to fly more than one lunar mission (two each). Of these three, only Lovell did not walk on the lunar surface. Lovell and Fred Haise were prevented from walking on the Moon by the malfunction on Apollo 13 that resulted in the mission being aborted. Haise was scheduled to walk on the Moon as commander of Apollo 19 prior to that mission’s cancellation on September 2, 1970.

Joe Engle had also trained to explore the Moon with Cernan as the backup crew for Apollo 14, but Engle was later replaced by geologist Harrison Schmitt when the primary crew for Apollo 17 was selected. Schmitt had been crewed with Dick Gordon in anticipation for Apollo 18. When Apollo 18 was canceled, Schmitt bumped Engle, leaving Gordon as the last Apollo astronaut who had trained extensively for lunar exploration without ever getting a chance to fly a lunar landing.

Apollo astronauts who flew to the Moon without landing

Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to reach the Moon (Frank Borman, center)

Twelve more people have been within a few hundred kilometers of the Moon. On each of the missions listed above one astronaut orbited the Moon while the other two landed. In addition, the Apollo 8, Apollo 10, and Apollo 13 missions had a three-person crew and closely encountered the Moon, entering orbit in the case of the former two missions, while Apollo 13 only passed around it. John Young and Eugene Cernan both flew to the Moon twice, each setting foot on it as part of their second journey, while Jim Lovell is the only human to have flown to the Moon twice without landing on it.

	Name	Born	Died	Age on mission	Mission	Mission dates	Employer	Other notes
1.	Frank Borman	March 14, 1928		40	Apollo 8	December 21–27, 1968	Air Force
2.	Jim Lovell	March 25, 1928		40	Apollo 8	December 21–27, 1968	Navy
				42	Apollo 13	April 11–17, 1970		intended to land
3.	William Anders	October 17, 1933		35	Apollo 8	December 21–27, 1968	Air Force
4.	Tom Stafford	September 17, 1930		38	Apollo 10	May 18–26, 1969	Air Force
5.	John Young	September 24, 1930		38	Apollo 10	May 18–26, 1969	Navy	later landed on Apollo 16, commanded two space shuttle missions
6.	Eugene Cernan	March 14, 1934		35	Apollo 10	May 18–26, 1969	Navy	later landed on Apollo 17
7.	Michael Collins	October 31, 1930		38	Apollo 11	July 16–24, 1969	Air Force
8.	Dick Gordon	October 5, 1929		40	Apollo 12	November 14–24, 1969	Navy	had been slated to land on Apollo 18[5]
9.	Jack Swigert	August 30, 1931	December 27, 1982	38	Apollo 13	April 11–17, 1970	Air Force
10.	Fred Haise	November 14, 1933		36	Apollo 13	April 11–17, 1970	Air Force	intended to land; had been slated to land on Apollo 19,[5] flew shuttle for approach/land testing
11.	Stuart Roosa	August 16, 1933	December 12, 1994	37	Apollo 14	January 31 – February 9, 1971	Air Force	had been slated to land on Apollo 20
12.	Al Worden	February 7, 1932		39	Apollo 15	July 26 – August 7, 1971	Air Force
13.	Ken Mattingly	March 17, 1936		36	Apollo 16	April 16–27, 1972	Navy	commanded two space shuttle missions. Originally in crew of Apollo 13, but replaced after becoming exposed to German measles pre-flight
14.	Ronald Evans	November 10, 1933	April 7, 1990	39	Apollo 17	December 7–19, 1972	Navy

Other Apollo astronauts

Dave Scott observes from command module of Apollo 9

Apollo 7 and Apollo 9 orbited the Earth only; therefore these five Apollo astronauts never went to the Moon:

1. Walter Schirra – Apollo 7
2. Donn Eisele – Apollo 7 (was on backup-crew for Apollo 10)
3. Walter Cunningham – Apollo 7
4. James McDivitt – Apollo 9
5. Rusty Schweickart – Apollo 9 (was on backup-crew for Skylab 2)

David Scott from Apollo 9 went on to land on the Moon in Apollo 15.

Backup crew-members who never flew an Apollo flight

Each Apollo flight had a backup crew who trained to carry out the mission if the prime crew member was unable to fly. Only one backup crew member was ever used: Jack Swigert switched places with Ken Mattingly after Mattingly had been exposed to German measles a few days prior to the launch of Apollo 13. (Mattingly later flew aboard Apollo 16). However, shortly before the launch of Apollo 17, Eugene Cernan badly injured his leg playing softball and only just recovered in time for the mission. Had he been unable to fly he could have been replaced by back-up commander John Young, who would have become the only person to walk on the Moon twice and would have done so on consecutive missions.

1. Gordon Cooper – backup commander for Apollo 10 – lost the primary commander slot on Apollo 14 to Alan Shepard, and resigned from NASA in 1970.
2. Joe Henry Engle – backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 14 – lost the primary pilot slot on Apollo 17 to Harrison Schmitt after the cancellation of Apollo 18. Engle later flew on the Space Shuttle Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Tests program in 1977, and commanded STS-2 using Columbia with astronaut Richard Truly in 1981. He also commanded Discovery on STS-51-I in 1985.

Astronauts who flew on Apollo, listed by group

A chart showing astronaut assignments leading up to and during the Apollo era

Astronaut Group 3 - all ten surviving members flew in Apollo missions

From the Mercury Seven (Astronaut Group 1)

Group 1 astronauts flew on Apollo 7 and 14

• Walter Marty Schirra, Jr. – Apollo 7
• Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. – Apollo 14

From Astronaut Group 2

Group 2 astronauts flew on Apollo 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 16; and ASTP and Skylab 2

• Neil Alden Armstrong – Apollo 11
• Frank Frederick Borman II – Apollo 8
• Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. – Apollo 12, Skylab 2
• James Arthur Lovell, Jr. – Apollo 8, Apollo 13
• James Alton McDivitt – Apollo 9
• Thomas Patten Stafford – Apollo 10, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
• John Watts Young – Apollo 10, Apollo 16 (Also flew on STS-1 and STS-9)

From Astronaut Group 3

Group 3 astronauts flew on Apollo 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, and 17; and Skylab 3

• Buzz Aldrin – Apollo 11
• William Alison Anders – Apollo 8
• Alan LaVern Bean – Apollo 12, Skylab 3
• Eugene Andrew Cernan – Apollo 10, Apollo 17
• Michael Collins – Apollo 11
• Walter Cunningham – Apollo 7
• Donn Fulton Eisele – Apollo 7
• Richard Francis Gordon, Jr. – Apollo 12
• Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart – Apollo 9
• David Randolph Scott – Apollo 9, Apollo 15

From Astronaut Group 4

Group 4 astronauts flew on Apollo 17

• Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt – Apollo 17

From Astronaut Group 5

Group 5 astronauts flew on Apollo 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17

• Charles Moss Duke, Jr. – Apollo 16
• Ronald Ellwin Evans, Jr. – Apollo 17
• Fred Wallace Haise, Jr. – Apollo 13
• James Benson Irwin – Apollo 15
• Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II – Apollo 16
• Edgar Dean Mitchell – Apollo 14
• Stuart Allen Roosa – Apollo 14
• John Leonard "Jack" Swigert, Jr. – Apollo 13
• Alfred Merrill Worden – Apollo 15

Post-Apollo missions using Apollo hardware

Skylab

The following astronauts flew on post-Apollo missions using Apollo hardware:

From the Mercury Seven

• Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

From Astronaut Group 2

• Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. – Skylab 2 (Also flew on Apollo 12, Gemini 5. and Gemini 11)
• Thomas Patten Stafford – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (Also flew on Apollo 10, Gemini 6, and Gemini 9)

From Astronaut Group 3

• Alan LaVern Bean – Skylab 3 (Also flew on Apollo 12)

From Astronaut Group 4

• Owen Kay Garriott – Skylab 3 (Also flew on STS-9)
• Edward George Gibson – Skylab 4
• Joseph Peter Kerwin – Skylab 2

From Astronaut Group 5

• Vance DeVoe Brand – Skylab Rescue (never flown), Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (Also flew on STS-5, STS-41-B, and STS-35)
• Gerald Paul Carr (had been slated to land by Apollo 19) – Skylab 4
• Jack Robert Lousma (had been slated to land by Apollo 20) – Skylab 3 (Also flew on STS-3)
• William Reid Pogue – Skylab 4
• Paul Joseph Weitz – Skylab 2 (Also flew on STS-6)

References

1. ^ Zornio, Mary C. Detailed Biographies of Apollo I Crew - "Gus Grissom", NASA, accessed July 19, 2006.
2. ^ Slayton, Donald K; Cassutt, Michael (1994). Deke!: U.S. Manned Space from Mercury to the Shuttle (1st ed.). New York City: Forge: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312855036. OCLC 29845663. 
3. ^ This date is based on GMT. Americans alive at the time remember it as the night of July 20, 1969 (Armstrong set foot on the Moon at 10:56 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time), but the official NASA chronology was kept in GMT, so the first step was 2:56 a.m. on the 21st: [1]
4. ^ Armstrong had left the US Navy and was already a NASA employee when he and Elliot See became the first civilian astronauts in Astronaut Group 2. See Armstrong's NASA biography and a description of his receiving a NASA award, among others.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Apollo 18 through 20 - The Cancelled Missions", Dr. David R. Williams, NASA, accessed July 19, 2006.

• "Human Space Flight - Apollo History". NASA. January 30, 2004. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/. Retrieved 2007-01-08. 
• One Giant Leap for Mankind: 35th Anniversary of Apollo 11, NASA, Michael Makara, accessed July 14, 2006