- Harrison Schmitt
Infobox Astronaut
name = Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt
type =NASA Astronaut
status = Retired
nationality = American
date_birth = birth date and age|1935|07|3
place_birth = Santa Rita,New Mexico
occupation =Geologist
selection = Scientist group
time = 12d 13h 52 m
mission =Apollo 17
insignia =Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born
July 3 ,1935 ) is an Americangeologist , a formerNASA astronaut and a one-term U.S. Senator. He is the twelfth person to walk on theMoon ; as of 2008, of the nine living moonwalkers, he and his crewmateEugene Andrew Cernan were the last two to walk there.Early life and education
Born in
Santa Rita, New Mexico , Schmitt grew up in nearby Silver City. He received a B.S. degree inscience from theCalifornia Institute of Technology in 1957 and then spent a year studyinggeology at theUniversity of Oslo inNorway . He received a Ph.D. in geology fromHarvard University in 1964.NASA career
Before joining
NASA as a member of the first group of scientist-astronauts in June 1965, he worked at the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Center atFlagstaff, Arizona , developing geological field techniques that would be used by the Apollo crews. Following his selection, Schmitt played a key role in training Apollo crews to be geologic observers when they were in lunar orbit and competent geologic field workers when they were on the lunar surface. After each of the landing missions, he participated in the examination and evaluation of the returned lunar samples and helped the crews with the scientific aspects of their mission reports.Because Schmitt was the only geologist in the astronaut corps and had spent considerable time becoming proficient in the CSM and LM systems, it came as no surprise when, in March 1970, he became the first of the scientist-astronauts to receive a crew assignment. He joined
Richard F. Gordon, Jr. (Commander) andVance Brand (Command Module Pilot) on the backup crew forApollo 15 and was clearly in line to fly as Lunar Module Pilot onApollo 18 . After the cancellation of the Apollo 18 moon mission in September 1970, many people expected that he would be assigned to fly onApollo 17 , the last lunar mission. That assignment was announced in August 1971.During the Apollo 17 flight, Schmitt probably took a photograph of the Earth called
The Blue Marble , one of the most widely distributed photographic images in existence (NASA officially credits the image to the entire Apollo 17 crew, and Schmitt claims that he personally took the image.) As he returned to theApollo Lunar Module before his crewmateGene Cernan , Schmitt is the second to the last person to have set foot on the moon's surface. After the completion of Apollo 17, Schmitt played an active role in documenting the Apollo geologic results and also took on the task of organizing NASA's Energy Program Office.Post-NASA career
Infobox_Senator | name=Harrison Schmitt
nationality=American
jr/sr=United States Senator
state=New Mexico
party=Republican
term_start =January 3 ,1977
term_end =January 3 ,1983
preceded=Joseph Montoya
succeeded=Jeff Bingaman
date of birth=birth date and age|1935|07|3
place of birth=Santa Rita,New Mexico
dead=alive
date of death=
place of death=
spouse=
religion=In August 1975, Schmitt resigned from NASA to seek election as a Republican to the
United States Senate representingNew Mexico . Schmitt faced two-term Democratic incumbent,Joseph Montoya , whom he defeated 57% to 42%. He served one term and, notably, was the ranking Republican member of theScience, Technology, and Space Subcommittee . He sought a second term in 1982, but due to a deep recession and concerns that he wasn't paying attention to local matters, he was defeated in a re-election bid by the state Attorney GeneralJeff Bingaman by a 54% to 46% margin. Following his Senate term, he has been a consultant in business, geology, space, and public policy.He lives in
Silver City, New Mexico , and spends some of his summer at his northernMinnesota lake cabin. He is also an advocate of returning to the moon (seeProject Constellation ), as the moon could be used as a source ofhelium-3 , a rare isotope ofhelium that can be used as a fuel fornuclear fusion reactors.Schmitt is chair of the
NASA Advisory Council , [ [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oer/nac NASA Advisory Council ] ] whose mandate is to provide technical advice to NASA AdministratorMichael D. Griffin . Schmitt is an adjunct professor of engineering physics at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison [ [http://www.engr.wisc.edu/ep/faculty/schmitt_harrison.html Schmitt, Harrison J ] ] . He is the founder and serves as chairman of Interlune Intermars Initiative Inc., an organization whose goal is to advance the private sector’s acquisition and use of lunar resources.chmitt in popular culture
*Schmitt was portrayed by
Tom Amandes in the 1998 miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon".
*Schmitt was mentioned in , an episode of "King of the Hill ".
*He appeared in an episode of the television showBill Nye the Science Guy .Awards and honors
* He was made an honorary fellow of the
Geological Society of America for his efforts ingeoscience in 1984. [ [http://www.geosociety.org/aboutus/awards/past.htm Geological Society of America: Award & Medal Recipients ] ]
*One of the elementary schools in Schmitt's hometown ofSilver City, New Mexico was named in his honor in the mid-'70s. An image of the astronaut riding a rocket through space is displayed on the front of "Harrison Schmitt Elementary School."Media
Schmitt is one of the astronauts featured in the documentary
In the Shadow of the Moon .Apollo 17 Apollo 17 References
External links
* [http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/920915 UW prof recounts '72 trip to moon]
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