Stories of the last Moon men

They were astronauts – 24 NASA astronauts who traveled to the moon in Apollo’s missions in the 1960s and 1970s.

loss Apollo 13 Commander Jim LovellWho led The task that is safely affected by returning to Earth in 1970It means that there are now only five people who remain only who have escaped the relative safety of the Earth’s orbit and an adventure in space.

Now, after more than 50 years have passed, the race is heated on the moon again.

NASA hopes that Artemis will lead to astronauts who live on the moon in this nodes. China also aims to have people on the moon by 2030, The investigation fell On the other side of the moon in June 2024.

A number of private companies have tried to send a scientific craft to the moon, though Incidents It has exceeded a number Success.

NASA intends to launch Artemis 2, the first lunar flight that was captured since APOLLO 17 in 1972, last year, but This date was slipped to 2026The space agency says it needs more time to prepare.

Meanwhile, companies such as Spacex and Boeing continue to develop their own technology, although it is not without setbacks.

Issues with Boeing Starlener That left the pioneers of the means of ways on the international space station was embarrassing to the giant of the space, while Spacex Space Category Category They became a customary scene for space monitors.

These sad, sad delays are highlighted that the number of remaining astronauts in Apollo is diminishing.

Along with Frank Burman and Bill Anders, Jim Loville made history when the three mission of the moon in Apollo 8 tested the leadership/service unit and its life support systems in preparation for later APollo 11.

Their craft actually made 10 orbits of the moon before returning home. Lovil later was supposed to be the fifth person who was walking on the surface of the moon as Apollo commander 13 – but of course, this never happened.

Instead, the story of his brushes was perpetuated in APOLLO 13, which Tom Hanks played.

After retiring from NASA in 1973, Leville worked in the telecommunications industry. Marilyn, his wife, died for more than 60 years, who became the focus of the media during the reputable incident, in August 2023.

But what about the remaining five men?

Who are they, and what are their stories?

On July 21, 1969, former fighter pilot Edwin “Buzz” left the lunar landing vehicle and became the second person who was stepping on the surface of the moon. About 20 minutes ago, his leader, Neil Armstrong, was the first.

The first words were: “Beautiful view.”

“Isn’t this something?” Armstrong asked. “Wonderful scene here.”

“Wonderful ruin”, Al -Drin answered.

The fact that he was secondly, he did not sit with him comfortably. His colleague Michael Collins said that the Drin “is more resented from his absence on the moon than he can be in second place.”

But the drinker was still proud of its completion; After many years, when a man claiming that Apollo 11 was a detailed lie, the 72 -year -old Drin bored him on the jaw.

After the death of Neil Armstrong in 2012, Al -Drin said: “I know that I joined millions of others from all over the world in the mourning of a real American champion and the best pilot I knew at all.”

Despite the conflicts in subsequent life, he never lost his thirst for adventure and joined the campaigns to both the northern and southern poles, the latter at the age of 86.

While embracing his scenes, he remained defending the space program, especially The need to explore Mars.

“I don’t think we should go there and return – we did it with Apollo,” he says.

His name has become known to new generations as an inspiration for Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story. In January 2023, at the age of 93, he married for the fourth time.

There are still only four people who are alive on the moon – Charlie Duke is one of them. He did this at the age of 36, which made him the youngest person to prolong the surface of the moon.

In an interview later in the BBC, he talked about “amazing terrain”.

“Its beauty … the sharp contradiction between the darkness of the space and the horizon of the moon … I will never forget it. It was very dramatic.”

But he really played another important role in exploring NASA to the moon. After APollo 11 fell in 1969, Duke – in Mission Control Communicator, or Capcom – who was nervously waiting on the other side of the line when Neil Armstrong said: “Houston, the base of calm here. The eagle fell.”

Duke answered in his distinguished southern studies: “Roger, calm. We copy you on the ground, I got a group of players about to turn blue, and we breathe again.”

“I really meant it, I was carrying my breath at the last minute or so,” Tell the BBC later.

In 2022, Duke BBC told that he was enthusiastic about the NASA Artimis mission – but he warned that he would not be easy for the new generation of astronauts.

“They chose near the southern pole to land, because if there is any ice on the moon, it will be in that region. So it will be difficult – because it is really cruel there. But we will pull it.”

Charlie Duke now lives outside San Antonio, Texas, with Dorothy, whom he married 60 years ago.

Farid Hayes was part of the Apollo 13 crew Narrow a disaster In 1970, after an explosion on the plane caused the mission to thwart when the craft was more than 200,000 miles (321,000 km) of the ground.

Watch the whole world nervously, as NASA tried to return the damaged spacecraft and its crew safely. Once he returned, Hayes and his colleagues James Luville and Jack Swigrett became famous, for their clear surprise.

“I feel that I may have missed something while I was there,” said to the host of the dialog program, Johnny Carson, when the crew appeared on The Tonight Show.

Hayes did not reach the moon. Although he is scheduled to be the APollo 19 commander, this task has been canceled due to budget discounts, as well as all other flights after APollo 17.

Later as a test barrier on the initial model of the spacecraft, Enterprise.

Like many of his colleagues from Apollo graduates, after leaving NASA, Hayes continued to work in the aviation industry until his retirement.

Unlike most other astronauts at the time, Schmidt was not a pilot in the American forces.

He is a geological and academic scientist, who initially directed NASA’s astronauts about what to search for during their lunar geological trips before he became a scientist in 1965.

The Schmitt was part of the last task of the crew to the moon, Apollo 17, and with Commander Eugene Serenan, one of the last two men prolonged on the surface of the moon, in December 1972.

After leaving NASA in 1975, he was elected to the US Senate from his hometown in New Mexico, but he served only one period. Since then, he has worked as a consultant in various industries as well as continuing in the academic circles.

It is also known for speaking against the scientific consensus on climate change.

David Scott, Apollo 15 captain, is only one of the four men who were alive on the moon – but he was also one of the first to lead it as well.

In 1971, Scott and his colleague James Irwin tested the rooted moon vehicle (LRV), as “the first man’s wheels on the moon” as it was called. Travel at up to 8 miles per hour (12 km/h) LRV allows astronauts to travel significantly from Lunar Lander much faster than they can walk.

“On a first mission, you never know if it will work.” “The greatest excitement was to take it out, operate it, and worked already.”

After returning from the moon, Scott worked in various administrative roles inside NASA, before joining the private sector.

He also worked as a consultant in many cinematic and television projects, including APollo 13 and HBO Miniseries from Earth to the moon.

What will the next generation of lunar adventurers achieve?