6th ‘Moon Man’ Edgar Mitchell died
His death occurred on the eve of the 45th anniversary of his lunar landing,
which took place on February 5, 1971. Mitchell, Alan Shepard and Stuart Roosa
were the crew of Apollo 14, which launched on January 31, 1971. Mitchell became
the sixth man to walk on the lunar surface.
He and Shepard set foot on the moon two separate times during their
mission, spending more than nine hours collecting rocks, taking measurements
and (in Shepard's case) hitting a pair of golf balls. Mitchell also took a
famous photograph of Shepard standing next to an American flag. All told, the
two spent 33 hours on the moon.
Mitchell, who was the lunar module pilot, found the trip to be a profound
experience.
"Looking at Earth from space and seeing it was a planet in isolation
... that was an experience of ecstasy, realizing that every molecule in our
bodies is a system of matter created from a star hanging in space,"
Mitchell told the UK Telegraph in 2014. "The experience I had was called
Samadhi in the ancient Sanskrit, a feeling of overwhelming joy at seeing the
Earth from that perspective."
Fascinated and frustrated by the relationship between religion and science,
he was very public about seeking links between the known and unknown.
He said he had conducted ESP experiments on the mission. He was also a
believer in extraterrestrial activity, and was convinced UFOs had visited
Earth.
"On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my
condolences to the family and friends of NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell,"
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.
"He believed in exploration, having been drawn to NASA by President
Kennedy's call to send humans to the moon. He is one of the pioneers in space
exploration on whose shoulders we now stand." Statement said.
No comments:
Post a Comment