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astronautix.com Schmitt


Dr Harrison Hagan (Jack) Schmitt Status: Inactive. Trained as: Astronaut. Profession: Pilot. Sex: Male. Marital Status: Married. Birth Date: 03 July 1935. Birth City: Santa Rita. Birth State: New Mexico. Birth Country: USA. Nationality: American. Degree: PhD. Group: 1965 NASA Group. Date Selected: 28 June 1965. Departed: 1975. Number of Flights: 1. Total Time: 12.58 days. Number of EVAs: 6. Total EVA Time: 23.23 hours.

NAME: Harrison H. Schmitt

BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Schmitt was born July 3, 1935, in Santa Rita, New Mexico.

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science degree in science from the California Institute of Technology in 1957. Doctorate of Philosophy in Geology from Harvard University in 1964.

EXPERIENCE: Schmitt worked with the Norwegian Geological Survey on the west coast of Norway and for the U.S. Geological Survey in New Mexico and Montana. He also worked two summers as a geologist in Alaska. Schmitt was involved in photo and telescopic mapping of the moon with the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Center at Flagstaff, Arizona, when NASA selected him in June 1965 in its first group of scientist-astronauts.

Because he was not a pilot, he attended a 53-week course in flight training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, receiving his Air Force jet pilot wings and later his Navy helicopter wings. While training for a moon mission, Schmitt provided Apollo flight crews with detailed instruction in lunar navigation, geology and feature recognition. He also assisted in the integration of scientific activities into Apollo missions and helped analyse lunar soil samples returned by the astronauts.

Schmitt originally was assigned to the Apollo 18 crew, but when that flight was cancelled, he was moved up to Apollo 17 under pressure from the scientific community. He became the only scientist to set foot on the moon.

Apollo 17 was launched December 7, 1972, and three days later Schmitt and Commander Gene Cernan landed their Lunar Module in Taurus-Littrow, while Ron Evans orbited overhead in the Command Module. Schmitt and Cernan made three Lunar Rover traverses over as many days. On December 19, the last men on the moon came home, splashing down in a safe landing in the Pacific Ocean.

Schmitt resigned from NASA in 1975 to run for the U.S. Senate in his home state of New Mexico. He was elected November 2, 1976, and served one six-year term. In his last two years, he was chairman of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space. He then became an independent consultant in science, technology, and public policy in Albuquerque, New Mexico.


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