Astronaut Group 3
Encyclopedia
Astronaut Group 3 was the third group of astronauts
selected by NASA
. Their selection was announced in October 1963. Fourteen astronauts made up Group 3. Four died in training accidents before they could fly in space. All of the surviving ten flew in the Apollo program; five also flew Gemini
missions. Aldrin, Bean, Cernan and Scott walked on the Moon.
Group 3 was the first group to include candidates with no test pilot background, as would be the case for all future groups except for Group 7 in which MOL participants transferred to NASA.
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
selected by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
. Their selection was announced in October 1963. Fourteen astronauts made up Group 3. Four died in training accidents before they could fly in space. All of the surviving ten flew in the Apollo program; five also flew Gemini
Project Gemini
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....
missions. Aldrin, Bean, Cernan and Scott walked on the Moon.
Group 3 was the first group to include candidates with no test pilot background, as would be the case for all future groups except for Group 7 in which MOL participants transferred to NASA.
- Edwin E. Aldrin, JrBuzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
, USAF
- Gemini 12Gemini 12-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.87°*Period: 88.87 min-Docking:*Docked: November 12, 1966 - 01:06:00 UTC*Undocked: November 13, 1966 - 20:18:00 UTC-Space walk:...
, Apollo 11Apollo 11In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was... - Performed first productive Extra-Vehicular ActivityExtra-vehicular activityExtra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
without tiring; Lunar Module Pilot, first manned lunar landing. Second man to walk on the moon.- William A. AndersWilliam AndersWilliam Alison Anders is a former United States Air Force officer, NASA astronaut, businessman, and engineer. He is, along with Apollo 8 crewmates Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, one of the first three persons to have left Earth orbit and traveled to the Moon .-Biography:Anders was born to Arthur...
, USAF
- William A. Anders
- Apollo 8Apollo 8Apollo 8, the second manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first human spaceflight to leave Earth orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to return to Earth from another celestial...
- Lunar Module Pilot (systems engineer), first manned flight to orbit the moon (no LM); responsible for significant photography.
- Charles A. Bassett, IICharles BassettCharles Arthur "Art" Bassett, II was an American engineer and United States Air Force officer. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963 and assigned to Gemini 9 but died in an airplane crash during training for his first spaceflight.-Early life and education:Bassett was born in Dayton, Ohio,...
, USAF (1931-1966)
- Charles A. Bassett, II
- Selected as Pilot for Gemini 9, but died in a plane crash before the mission.
- Alan L. BeanAlan BeanAlan LaVern Bean is a former NASA astronaut, engineer, and painter. Bean was selected to become an astronaut by NASA in 1963 as part of Astronaut Group 3. He made his first flight into space aboard Apollo 12, the second manned mission to land on the Moon, at the age of thirty-seven years in...
, USN
- Alan L. Bean
- Apollo 12Apollo 12Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the American Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon . It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L...
, Skylab 3Skylab 3Skylab 3 was the second manned mission to Skylab. The Skylab 3 mission started July 28, 1973, with the launch of three astronauts on the Saturn IB rocket, and lasted 59 days, 11 hours and 9 minutes... - Lunar Module Pilot, second manned lunar landing. Fourth man to walk on the moon. Commander, second American space station mission.
- Eugene A. Cernan, USN
- Gemini 9AGemini 9A- Backup crew :- Original primary crew :- Mission parameters :* Mass: * Perigee: * Apogee: * Inclination: 28.91°* Period: 88.78 min- 1st rendezvous :* June 3, 1966 - 17:45 - 18:00 UTC- Spacewalk :* Cernan...
, Apollo 10Apollo 10Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the American Apollo space program. It was an F type mission—its purpose was to be a "dry run" for the Apollo 11 mission, testing all of the procedures and components of a Moon landing without actually landing on the Moon itself. The mission included the...
, Apollo 17Apollo 17Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, with a three-member crew consisting of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the... - Lunar Module Pilot, lunar module test in lunar orbit, highest velocity attained by manned vehicle. Commander, (as of 2010) final manned mission to the moon. As of 2011, last man to walk on the moon.
- Roger B. ChaffeeRoger B. ChaffeeRoger Bruce Chaffee was an American aeronautical engineer and a NASA astronaut in the Apollo program. Chaffee died along with fellow astronauts Gus Grissom and Ed White during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy...
, USN (1935-1967)
- Roger B. Chaffee
- Slated to be Pilot on the Prime Crew for first manned Apollo missionApollo 1Apollo 1 was scheduled to be the first manned mission of the Apollo manned lunar landing program, with a target launch date of February 21, 1967. A cabin fire during a launch pad test on January 27 at Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral killed all three crew members: Command Pilot Virgil "Gus"...
, but was killed in a cabin fire during launch rehearsal.- Michael CollinsMichael Collins (astronaut)Michael Collins is a former American astronaut and test pilot. Selected as part of the third group of fourteen astronauts in 1963, he flew in space twice. His first spaceflight was Gemini 10, in which he and command pilot John Young performed two rendezvous with different spacecraft and Collins...
, USAF
- Michael Collins
- Gemini 10Gemini 10-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.87°*Period: 88.79 min-Docking:*Docked: July 19, 1966 - 04:15:00 UTC*Undocked: July 20, 1966 - 19:00:00 UTC-Space walk:...
, Apollo 11Apollo 11In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was... - Command Module Pilot, first manned lunar landing.
- R. Walter CunninghamWalter CunninghamRonnie Walter Cunningham , known as Walt Cunningham, is a retired American astronaut. In 1968, he was the Lunar Module pilot on the Apollo 7 mission...
, USMC
- R. Walter Cunningham
- Apollo 7Apollo 7Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the American Apollo space program, and the first manned US space flight after a cabin fire killed the crew of what was to have been the first manned mission, AS-204 , during a launch pad test in 1967...
- Lunar Module Pilot (systems engineer), first Apollo manned mission in earth orbit (no LM).
- Donn F. Eisele, USAF (1930-1987)
- Apollo 7Apollo 7Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the American Apollo space program, and the first manned US space flight after a cabin fire killed the crew of what was to have been the first manned mission, AS-204 , during a launch pad test in 1967...
- Command Module Pilot, first Apollo manned mission in earth orbit. Backup Command Module Pilot for Apollo 10Apollo 10Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the American Apollo space program. It was an F type mission—its purpose was to be a "dry run" for the Apollo 11 mission, testing all of the procedures and components of a Moon landing without actually landing on the Moon itself. The mission included the...
.- Theodore C. FreemanTheodore FreemanTheodore Cordy Freeman was a NASA astronaut and a captain in the United States Air Force. He was killed in the crash of a T-38 jet, marking the first fatality among the American astronaut corps...
, USAF (1930-1964)
- Theodore C. Freeman
- Killed in jet trainer crash in 1964 before being selected for any flight assignment.
- Richard F. Gordon, JrRichard F. Gordon, Jr.Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., Captain, USN, Ret. is a retired NASA astronaut. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon.-Military and flight experience:Gordon was born in Seattle, Washington...
, USN
- Richard F. Gordon, Jr
- Gemini 11Gemini 11Gemini 11 was the ninth manned spaceflight mission of NASA's Project Gemini, which flew from September 12 to 15, 1966. It was the 17th manned American flight and the 25th spaceflight to that time . Astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. and Richard F. Gordon, Jr...
, Apollo 12Apollo 12Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the American Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon . It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L... - Command Module Pilot, second manned lunar landing. Backup Commander Apollo 15. Slated to land as Commander on Apollo 18.
- Russell L. Schweickart, ex-USAF
- Apollo 9Apollo 9Apollo 9, the third manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first flight of the Command/Service Module with the Lunar Module...
- Lunar Module Pilot, first flight of LM in earth orbit. Backup Commander of First Skylab Mission.
- David R. ScottDavid ScottDavid Randolph Scott is an American engineer, test pilot, retired U.S. Air Force officer, and former NASA astronaut and engineer, who was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963...
, USAF
- David R. Scott
- Gemini 8Gemini 8-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:* Mass: * Perigee: * Apogee: * Inclination: 28.91°* Period: 88.83 min-Objectives:Gemini VIII had two major objectives, of which it achieved one...
, Apollo 9Apollo 9Apollo 9, the third manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first flight of the Command/Service Module with the Lunar Module...
, Apollo 15Apollo 15Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous... - Command Module Pilot, first all-up test flight of Apollo spacecraft Apollo 9, Commanded the fourth manned lunar landing. Seventh man to walk on the moon.
- Clifton C. WilliamsClifton WilliamsThis article is about the American astronaut. For the composer, see Clifton Williams .Clifton Curtis 'C.C.' Williams was a NASA astronaut, a Naval Aviator, and a Major in the United States Marine Corps who was killed in a plane crash; he had never been to space...
, USMC (1932-1967)
- Clifton C. Williams
- Trained as Lunar Module Pilot. Served on the backup crew for Gemini 10Gemini 10-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.87°*Period: 88.79 min-Docking:*Docked: July 19, 1966 - 04:15:00 UTC*Undocked: July 20, 1966 - 19:00:00 UTC-Space walk:...
. Selected as a member of the backup crew for Apollo 9Apollo 9Apollo 9, the third manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first flight of the Command/Service Module with the Lunar Module...
, but died in a plane crash before the mission.