Ronald Ellwin Evans

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Ron Evans
Ron Evans
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on April 4, 1966
(5th NASA Group)
Calls: 1 space flight
Begin: 7th December 1972
Landing: December 19, 1972
Time in space: 12d 13h 51min
EVA inserts: 1
EVA total duration: 1h 6min
retired on March 1977
Space flights

Ronald Ellwin "Ron" Evans, Jr. (born November 10, 1933 in St. Francis , Kansas , † April 7, 1990 in Scottsdale , Arizona ) was an American astronaut from NASA . In Apollo 17 , the ninth and last manned flight to the moon as part of the Apollo program , he served as the pilot of the Apollo command module .

Life

After finishing high school in Topeka, Kansas, Evans studied at the University of Kansas and graduated with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1956 .

After Evans had successfully completed his training as a pilot in the US Navy in June 1957 , he then worked as a pilot and, from January 1961 to June 1962, as an instructor for fighter pilots. During his entire period of service he completed more than 5100 flight hours, of which approx. 4600 were on jet aircraft.

Evans earned his master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1964, and joined NASA in 1966 with the fifth group of astronauts.

Astronaut activity

Evans was assigned to the support crew for Apollo 7 and Apollo 11 .

At Apollo 14 , he served in the backup team as a pilot of the command module.

Evans made his first and only space flight from December 7 to December 19, 1972 with Apollo 17 , the last flight in the Apollo program to the moon. In addition to Evans as the pilot of the America command module , Eugene Cernan as the commander and Harrison Schmitt as the pilot of the Challenger lunar module were also part of the crew. While Cernan and Schmitt were on the moon, Evans remained alone in lunar orbit and carried out photographic and visual observations during this mission phase.

To this day, it holds the record for the longest time spent in lunar orbit at six days, three hours and 48 minutes. On the return flight to Earth, Evans left the command capsule for a space exit to recover film cassettes and to conduct an inspection of the spaceship.

After Apollo 17, Evans served in the backup team as a pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz project .

Following the Apollo program, he was involved in the development and planning of the space shuttle program. After 21 years of service, Evans retired on April 30, 1976 from the US Navy. In March 1977 he left NASA to take on a senior position in industry. Evans died of heart failure in April 1990. He left a wife and two children.

Special features and records

Awards

Ronald Evans received during his career as an astronaut a. a. the following awards:

See also

Web links

Commons : Ronald E. Evans  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Evans, Ronald Ellwin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Evans, Ronald Ellwin Junior (full name); Evans, Ron junior (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronaut from NASA
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Francis , Kansas
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1990
Place of death Scottsdale , Arizona