Edgar Mitchell

Edgar Dean "Ed" Mitchell (September 17, 1930 – February 4, 2016) was a United States Navy officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, ufologist, and NASA astronaut.

Mitchell was born on September 17, 1930, in Hereford, Texas, to Joseph Thomas Mitchell (1910–1967) and Ollidean Margaret Mitchell ( Arnold; 1911–1977).

He had three siblings: Joyce Alyene, who died in her infancy in 1933, Sandra Jo (1934–1988) and Jay Neely "Coach" (1937–2013), who was a member of the inaugural graduating class of the United States Air Force Academy in 1959, and a pilot with the United States Air Force (USAF), achieving the rank of colonel.

He came from a ranching family that moved to New Mexico during the Depression and considered Artesia, New Mexico (near Roswell) as his hometown.

He first learned to fly at 13, receiving his private pilot license at 16, and was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout.

He was also a member of DeMolay International, part of the Masonic Fraternity, and was inducted into its Hall of Fame.

Mitchell was a member of Artesia Lodge #29 in New Mexico.

He enjoyed handball, tennis, and swimming, and his hobbies included scuba diving and soaring.

He graduated from Artesia High School in 1948.

He was married to Louise Randall from 1951 to 1972.

Before becoming an astronaut, Mitchell earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from Carnegie Institute of Technology and entered the United States Navy in 1952.

After being commissioned through the Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island, he served as a Naval Aviator.

Mitchell received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial management from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1952, where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.

That same year, he entered the United States Navy and completed basic training at San Diego Recruit Depot.

In May 1953, after completing instruction at the Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island, Mitchell was commissioned an Ensign.

He completed flight training in July 1954 at Hutchinson, Kansas, was designated as a Naval Aviator and received the Daughters of the American Revolution Award for achieving the highest overall marks during flight training.

After period of instruction from July to September 1954 at the Fleet Airborne Electronics Training Unit, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Mitchell was subsequently assigned to Patrol Squadron 29 (VP-29), flying land-based patrol planes, deployed to Okinawa.

From 1957 to 1958, Mitchell transitioned to carrier-based jet aircraft and flew the A3D Skywarrior while assigned to Heavy Attack Squadron Two (VAH-2) deployed aboard the aircraft carriers USS Bon Homme Richard and USS Ticonderoga.

He qualified as a research pilot and flew with Air Development Squadron Five until 1959.

In 1961, he received his second bachelor's degree, in aeronautical engineering, from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and three years later earned his doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

While on active duty in the Navy, he earned a second bachelor's degree, in aeronautical engineering, from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1961 and an Doctor of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1964.

Following the completion of his graduate studies, Mitchell served as Chief, Project Management Division of the Navy Field Office for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) from 1964 to 1965.

From 1965 to 1966, he attended the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School and graduated first in his class.

During this period, he served as an instructor in advanced mathematics and navigation theory for astronaut candidates.

The legacy of his post-NASA scientific and parapsychology work is carried on through the Institute of Noetic Sciences.

From 1965 to 1966, he attended the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School for certification as a test pilot, graduating first in his class.

During this period, Mitchell served as an instructor in advanced mathematics and navigation theory for astronaut candidates.

Mitchell accumulated 5,000 hours' flight time, including 2,000 hours in jet aircraft.

Mitchell was selected in 1966 as part of NASA's fifth astronaut group.

He was assigned to the support crew for Apollo 9, then was designated as backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 10.

This placed him in rotation for Apollo 13, but his crew was switched to Apollo 14 so that Commander Alan Shepard, who had been grounded by a medical problem since the Gemini program, could train longer.

During the Apollo 13 crisis, Mitchell was a part of the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team and as such was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970.

He worked in an Apollo simulator to help bring the crew back.

As the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 14 in 1971 he spent nine hours working on the lunar surface in the Fra Mauro Highlands region, and was the sixth person to walk on the Moon.

Following their divorce, he married Anita Rettig in 1973.

The couple divorced in 1984 when he began an affair with former Playboy model Sheilah Ledbetter.

He was father to two children with Randall, adopted Rettig's three children, and later was father to another child, this time with Ledbetter.

Rettig served as chair of the Palm Beach County Republican Party, while Kimberly Mitchell (the eldest daughter from his union with Rettig) was a city commissioner in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Ledbetter and Mitchell married in 1989 and divorced in 1999.

He was survived by five children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.