List of Apollo astronauts


assigned 32 American astronauts to the Apollo lunar landing program, and 24, flying on nine missions between December 1968 and December 1972, orbited the Moon. During six two-man landing missions twelve astronauts walked on the lunar surface, and six of those drove Lunar Roving Vehicles. Three flew to the Moon twice, one orbiting both times and two landing once apiece. Apart from these 24 men, no human being has gone beyond low Earth orbit.
The Apollo program included three other crewed missions. Apollo 1 did not launch and its crew died in a ground-based capsule fire, and Apollo 7 and Apollo 9 were low Earth orbit missions testing spacecraft components and docking maneuvers. Nine astronauts later flew unused Apollo command modules in the Apollo Applications Program's Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.
Of the 24 astronauts who flew to the Moon, two went on to command a Skylab mission, one commanded Apollo–Soyuz, one flew as commander for Approach and Landing Tests of the Space Shuttle, and two commanded orbital Space Shuttle missions. Twenty-four NASA astronauts from the Apollo era flew on the Space Shuttle.

Prime crew members

NASA's Director of Flight Crew Operations during the Gemini and Apollo programs was Donald K. "Deke" Slayton, one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, who was medically grounded in September 1962 due to a minor cardiac arrythmia – paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Slayton was responsible for making all Gemini and Apollo crew assignments. In March 1972, Slayton was restored to flight status, and flew on the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project mission.
The prime crew members selected for actual missions are here grouped by their NASA astronaut selection groups, and within each group in the order selected for flight. Two versions of the Apollo Command/Service Module spacecraft were developed: Block I intended for preliminary low Earth orbit testing, and Block II which was designed for the lunar landing. The Block I crew position titles were Command Pilot, Senior Pilot, and Pilot. The corresponding Block II titles were: Commander, Command Module Pilot, and Lunar Module Pilot. The second seat pilot was given secondary responsibility for celestial navigation to keep the CSM's guidance computer accurately calibrated with the spacecraft's true position, and the third seat pilot served as a flight engineer, monitoring the health of the spacecraft systems.

From the Mercury Seven

All of these astronauts flew on Gemini, and except for White, each commanded one Gemini and one Apollo mission:
This was the first class of astronauts for which test pilot experience was not required, but military jet fighter pilot experience was acceptable.
Five of this group got their first spaceflight experience as second seat on Gemini:
The remaining six members of this group were selected for their first space flights on Apollo:
In June 1965, NASA named a group of five scientist astronauts, the first group qualified by doctorate degrees rather than test or military fighter pilot experience. Geologist Harrison H. "Jack" Schmitt participated heavily in the geological training of the lunar landing astronauts, as well as assisting in the analysis of returned samples and the preparation of mission reports. In 1970, he was selected as Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 15 backup crew, and prime crew on Apollo 18. When program cutbacks canceled missions 18 through 20, NASA's lunar geological community insisted on having a geologist on the Moon, so Slayton reassigned Schmitt to Apollo 17.

From Astronaut Group 5">NASA Astronaut Group 5">Astronaut Group 5

NASA named a group of 19 more astronauts in April 1966. None had spaceflight experience before their Apollo mission.
Twelve people have walked on the Moon. Four of them are still living as of 2020 All crewed lunar landings took place between July 1969 and December 1972 as part of the Apollo program. Most astronauts at that time came from the military services and were considered to be on active duty during their NASA service; the few exceptions were considered civilian NASA astronauts.
ImageNameBornDiedAge at
first step		MissionLunar EVA datesMilitary serviceAlma Mater
1Neil Armstrong38y 11m 15dApollo 11CivilianPurdue University, University of Southern California
2Buzz Aldrin39y 6m 0dApollo 11Air ForceUnited States Military Academy, MIT
3Pete Conrad39y 5m 17dApollo 12NavyPrinceton University
4Alan Bean37y 8m 4dApollo 12NavyUniversity of Texas, Austin
5Alan Shepard47y 2m 18dApollo 14NavyUnited States Naval Academy, Naval War College
6Edgar Mitchell40y 4m 19dApollo 14NavyCarnegie Mellon University, Naval Postgraduate School, MIT
7David Scott39y 1m 25dApollo 15Air ForceUniversity of Michigan, United States Military Academy, MIT
8James Irwin41y 4m 14dApollo 15Air ForceUnited States Naval Academy, University of Michigan
9John Young41y 6m 28dApollo 16NavyGeorgia Institute of Technology
10Charles Duke36y 6m 18dApollo 16Air ForceUnited States Naval Academy, MIT
11Eugene Cernan38y 9m 7dApollo 17NavyPurdue University, Naval Postgraduate School
12Harrison Schmitt37y 5m 8dApollo 17CivilianCaltech, University of Oslo, Harvard University

On each of the Apollo 17 extravehicular activities, Harrison Schmitt was the second person out of, and the first person back into, the Apollo Lunar Module. Schmitt is thus the 12th and presently last person to have stepped onto the Moon. Eugene Cernan, as the second person to enter the lunar module on the final EVA, was the last person to have walked on the Moon.
Alan Shepard was the oldest person to walk on the Moon, at age 47 years and 80 days. Charlie Duke was the youngest, at age 36 years and 201 days.
Jim Lovell and Fred Haise were scheduled to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 13 mission, but the lunar landing was aborted following a major malfunction en route to the Moon. Haise was again scheduled to walk on the Moon as commander of Apollo 19, but Apollo 18 and Apollo 19 were canceled on September 2, 1970.
Joe Engle had trained on the backup crew for Apollo 14 to explore the Moon with Cernan, but he was replaced by Schmitt on the primary crew for Apollo 17. Schmitt had previously been crewed with Apollo 12 Command Module pilot Dick Gordon in anticipation of Apollo 18, but Schmitt replaced Engle on Apollo 17 after the cancellation of Apollo 18 and Apollo 19, leaving Gordon as the last Apollo astronaut to train extensively for lunar exploration without ever landing on the Moon.

Apollo astronauts who flew to the Moon without landing

Besides the 12 people who have walked on the Moon, 12 more have flown to within 0.001 lunar distance of its surface. During each of the six missions with successful lunar landings, one astronaut remained in lunar orbit while the other two landed. In addition, the three-person crews of Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 also entered lunar orbit, and the crew of Apollo 13 looped around the Moon on a free-return trajectory.
All nine crewed missions to the Moon took place as part of the Apollo program over a period of just under four years, from 21 December 1968 to 19 December 1972. The 24 people who have flown to the Moon are the only people who have traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Eleven of them are still living as of 2020
Jim Lovell, John Young, and Eugene Cernan are the only three people to have flown to the Moon twice. Young and Cernan each set foot on it during their respective second lunar missions, while Lovell is the only person to have flown to the Moon twice without landing.
During Cernan's first lunar mission on Apollo 10, he tied the present record set by Bill Anders on Apollo 8 as the youngest person to fly to the Moon. Each was 35 years and 65 days old on his launch date and 35 years and 68 days old when he entered lunar orbit. The oldest person to fly to the Moon was Alan Shepard, who walked on its surface during the Apollo 14 mission. Shepard was 47 years and 74 days old on his launch date and 47 years and 78 days old when he entered lunar orbit.
Because of Apollo 13's free-return trajectory, Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise flew higher above the Moon's 180° meridian than anyone else has flown. Coincidentally, due to the Moon's distance from Earth at the time, they simultaneously set the present record for humans' greatest distance from Earth, reaching an altitude of 400,171 km above sea level at 0:21 UTC on 15 April 1970.
ImageNameBornDiedAgeMissionMilitary serviceNotes
1Frank Borman40Apollo 8
December 21–27, 1968		Air Force
2Jim Lovell40
42		Apollo 8
December 21–27, 1968
Apollo 13
April 11–17, 1970		NavyIntended to land on Apollo 13; only person to fly to the Moon twice without landing.
3Bill Anders35Apollo 8
December 21–27, 1968
Air Force
4Tom Stafford38Apollo 10
May 18–26, 1969		Air ForceLater flew on Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.
5Michael Collins38Apollo 11
July 16–24, 1969		Air Force
6Dick Gordon40Apollo 12
November 14–24, 1969		NavyTrained to land, slated for Apollo 18.
7Jack Swigert38Apollo 13
April 11–17, 1970		Air Force
8Fred Haise36Apollo 13
April 11–17, 1970		Marines, Air ForceIntended to land; later trained to land and slated to command Apollo 19 ; flew the Space Shuttle on approach / landing tests.
9Stu Roosa37Apollo 14
January 31 – February 9, 1971		Air ForceIn rotation to land on Apollo 20.
10Al Worden39Apollo 15
July 26 – August 7, 1971		Air Force
11Ken Mattingly36Apollo 16
April 16–27, 1972		NavyLater flew two Space Shuttle missions.
12Ron Evans39Apollo 17
December 7–19, 1972		Navy