Charles duke astronaut bio

More than fifty years ago the world stood still as history was made when Apollo 11 touched down on the moon and three brave American astronauts stepped out. One of the men that helped make that happen, and later got to experience it himself, was South Carolina astronaut, General Charles Duke.

Take a moment to learn what it was like for Duke to leave his footprint, not only in history, but on earth’s closest neighbor – the moon!

When did you first realize you wanted to be an astronaut?

When I graduated from the Naval Academy in 1957, there wasn’t a space program or any astronauts. So I went to Germany in 1959 and was there when Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard went up as the first human beings in space.

I returned from Germany in 1962 and went to MIT to get a master’s degree. My second year there I was working on the Apollo guidance and navigation system and met a number of the astronauts that were there monitoring the development of that system. They were so excited and enthusiastic about their careers as astronauts, I asked them how I could become one.

After MIT, I went to test pilot school and graduated in 1965. I knew then that the best job you could have as a test pilot was an astronaut.

What went through your mind when you took your first step on the moon?

A lot of emotions. We were late landing, and so late getting out for that first moon walk. When I stepped on the surface, one of the overwhelming thoughts was, I’m really here. I’m finally on the moon. Two years of training had paid off and here I am.

Along with that was wonder, awe; overcome with the beauty of the moon, the desolation. As Buzz Aldrin called it, “magnificent desolation.” It was a beautiful place, gray in color. Very rough terrain. It was just a tremendous, exciting feeling and an emotional one.

Were you ever afraid?

We had been there [on the moon] almost 70 hours, we were finishing up our closeout on

1994

Charles Duke, Jr. attended High School in Lancaster and graduated from Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida. He then went on to graduate from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD along with earning a master’s in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT .

He has also earned honorary doctorates from USC and Francis Marion College.

In 1966, he was selected as an astronaut and was assigned to the Apollo program. He served as a lunar module pilot of Apollo 16 and spent 71 hours on the moon performing scientific experiments. Overall, he logged more than 265 hours in space.

Duke attained the rank of Brigadier General in U.S. Air Force. A highly effective role model for the citizens of South Carolina, Duke serves as director of Young Astronaut Council. He has been recognized as South Carolina Man of the Year, a member of South Carolina Hall of Fame, and he received the distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

Charles Duke’s website: http://www.charlieduke.net

Charlie Duke – Apollo 16
Charlie Duke Apollo 16 Blastoff
Apollo 16 Blastoff Charlie Salutes from the Moon
Charlie Salutes from the Moon

Astronaut Charles Duke is one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as lunar module pilot of Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972 and was the 10th of only 12 men to walk on the moon. He was accompanied on the fifth manned lunar mission by John W. Young (spacecraft commander) and Thomas K. Mattingly II (command module pilot). Apollo 16 was the first scientific expedition to inspect, survey and sample materials and surface features in the Descarts region of the rugged lunar highlands. Duke and Young commenced their lunar surface stay of 71 hours and 14 minutes by maneuvering the lunar module Orion to a landing on the rough Cayley Plains. In three subsequent excursions onto the lunar surface, Duke and Young logged over 20 hours in extra-vehicular activities. It involved the emplacement and activation of scientific

Charles M. Duke Jr. is a NASA astronaut who explored the moon during Apollo 16, but he is also known for his crucial role as Capcom — the spacecraft communicator — during the hair-raising landing of Apollo 11.

Duke and his Apollo 16 commander, John Young, spent more than 20 hours on the moon in the Descartes region. According to Duke, he took the only videos of the lunar rover "in action" as it skidded across the surface.

Duke retired from NASA in 1975 to enter private business. Today, he is the chair of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation that is based in Titusville, Fla., not far from where his spacecraft journeyed to the moon.

'Twangquility Base'

Duke entered the Air Force in 1957 after completing his training at the Naval Academy. His first assignment after advanced training was three years as a fighter interceptor pilot with a squadron in Ramstein Air Base, Germany. When he was selected as an astronaut in 1966, Duke was an instructor at the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School — a place he had graduated from just the year before.

At NASA, he was a member of the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 10 flight, and then was assigned as Capcom for Apollo 11, the first landing on the moon. According to Duke, it was Neil Armstrong himself — the first man on the moon — who requested Duke's presence on the radio.

Apollo 11 had a dramatic landing. The crew was several miles off course, battling computer overload alarms and also running low on fuel. The lunar module touched down on the surface with less than 30 seconds' fuel remaining in the tanks.

"Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed," Armstrong radioed on July 20, 1969.

In Duke's excitement, he fumbled the communications back.

"I was so excited, I couldn’t get out 'Tranquility Base.' It came out sort of like 'Twangquility,' you know," Duke said in an interview with NASA in 1999.

"It was, 'Roger, Twangqu

American astronaut and lunar explorer (born 1935)

For other people named Charles Duke, see Charles Dukes, 1st Baron Dukeston and Charles Sumner Duke.

Charles Moss Duke Jr. (born October 3, 1935) is an American former astronaut, United States Air Force (USAF) officer and test pilot. As Lunar Module pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972, he became the tenth and youngest person to walk on the Moon, at age 36 years and 201 days. He is one of four surviving Moon walkers, along with David Scott, Buzz Aldrin and Jack Schmitt.

A 1957 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Duke joined the USAF and completed advanced flight training on the F-86 Sabre at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, where he was a distinguished graduate. After completion of this training, Duke served three years as a fighter pilot with the 526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany. After graduating from the Aerospace Research Pilot School in September 1965, he stayed on as an instructor teaching control systems and flying in the F-101 Voodoo, F-104 Starfighter, and T-33 Shooting Star.

In April 1966, Duke was one of nineteen men selected for NASA's fifth astronaut group. In 1969, he was a member of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 10. He served as CAPCOM for Apollo 11, the first crewed landing on the Moon. His distinctive Southern drawl became familiar to audiences around the world, as the voice of Mission Control concerned by the long landing that almost expended all of the Lunar Module Eagle descent stage's propellant. Duke's first words to the Apollo 11 crew on the surface of the Moon were: "Roger, Twank...Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot!"

Duke was backup Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 13. Shortly before the mission, he caught rubella (German measles) from a friend's child and inadvertently exposed the prime crew to the disease. As Ken Mattin