Ronald E. Evans

Ronald Ellwin Evans was Born November 10, 1933, in St. Francis, Kansas, USA. He earned a BSC degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kansas in 1956 and a MSC degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U. S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1964. Evans was on sea duty in the Pacific flying Vietnam combat operations with VF-51 flying F-8 aircraft aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) when he heard of his selection to NASA in 1966. One of 19 Astronauts selected by NASA, He served as a member of the astronaut support crews for the Apollo 7 and Apollo 11 flights and as backup command module pilot for Apollo 14. He finally got his first Spaceflight on Apollo 17 which would be NASA's final Manned flight to the Moon. In 1972 Captain Evans would serve as Command Module Pilot for the Mission, remaining in Lunar Orbit while Commander Eugene Cernan & Scientist Harrison Schmitt would go down to the Lunar Surface. Evans made visual geological observations, hand-held photography of specific targets, and the control of cameras and other highly sophisticated scientific equipment carried in the command module. Evans Spent a record setting time In Lunar Orbit, a total of six days and four hours (148 hours). He also performed a Deep Space EVA between the Moon & the Earth one of only three Men to do so to date. He later served on the backup crew for the Apollo-Soyuz Test-Flight In 1975. Evans retired from the United States Navy on April 30, 1976, with 21 years of service, and remained active as a NASA astronaut involved in the development of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. He served as a member of the operations and training group, within the astronaut office, responsible for launch and ascent phases of the Shuttle flight program. He retired from NASA in March 1977 to become a coal industry executive. Sadly, Ronald E. Evans sadly Died in April 6, 1990, in Scottsdale, Arizona, of a heart attack. He is survived by his wife Jan and their two children.