xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform'">. Molly Wasser Richard Francis Gordon Jr. was born on Oct. 5, 1929, in Seattle, the eldest of five children of Richard Sr., a machinist, and his wife, Angela, an elementary school teacher. Richard Gordon, born October 5 1929, died November 6 2017, The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Gordon was born in Seattle. Richard Gordon, who has died aged 88, was one of the 12 who did not, and in some ways the one whose frustration might have been the highest. Without a firm restraint, Gordon had to stabilize himself with one hand and work with the other. Born on Oct. 5, 1929 in Seattle, Gordon received a degree in chemistry from the University of Washington in 1951 and joined the Navy, earning his wings as a naval aviator in 1953 before his assignment as a fighter pilot. He was also flight safety officer, assistant operations officer, and ground training officer for Fighter Squadron 96 (VF-96) at Miramar. After retiring as an astronaut and leaving Nasa, Gordon held executive posts in the chemical, oil and gas industries, and in 1978 became president of a company designing firefighting equipment for oil rigs. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Topic: Apollo 18-20: Lunar Module Names : Fezman92 Member . It was another three years before Gordon went to the moon on Apollo 12. Those planning Buzz Aldrin's spacewalk in Gemini 12 implemented that to great success. Gordon was so excited about performing his space walk that he was up an hour early, and struggled to get his helmet over his head. Richard Gordon obituary | Space | The Guardian Top Rated Plus. Apollo 12 astronaut Richard Gordon dies aged 88, NASA says When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. [4], He won the Bendix Trophy race from Los Angeles to New York City in May 1961, flying an F4H-1 in which he established a new speed record of 869.74 miles per hour and a transcontinental speed record of 2 hours and 47 minutes. He logged more than 4,500 hours flying time with 3,500 hours of those hours in jet aircraft. Gordon ran into trouble on the first spacewalk, prompting an early end to the excursion. View larger image without labels, NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Follow this link to skip to the main content. While his crewmates, Pete Conrad and Alan Bean, landed in the Ocean of Storms, Gordon remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module Yankee Clipper, photographing tentative landing sites for future missions. View Richard Gordon's business profile as Bursar at Mayfield School. For Gordon, the timing couldnt have been better: President Kennedy announced in May 1961 amid Cold War tension with the Soviet Union that the United States would be the first country to go to the moon. Richard F. Gordon Jr. - Wikipedia November 8, 2017. 2023 CNET, a Red Ventures company. "Every time you change something, youre talking evaluation of delays and costs and those kinds of things. Richard Gordon, Apollo 12 astronaut - obituary - The Telegraph Ambassadors of Exploration help NASA communicate the benefits and excitement of space exploration. He has boldly hand signed in black sharpie, "Richard Gordon, Apollo XII, CMP". Astronaut wasnt even in his vocabulary. And that was a lesson we brought back from that EVA," he said, adding that more restraint systems are required when working in microgravity. Three years later he piloted the Gemini 11 mission with Conrad, whose aim was to perform the first docking with another spacecraft, the unmanned Agena. Watch the total lunar eclipse and learn about the science behind this celestial phenomenon. Template:BLP sources Richard Francis "Dick" Gordon Jr. (born October 5, 1929), (Capt, USN, Ret. Besides doing moon work, Gordon performed a tricky spacewalk during Gemini 11 that paved the way for better spacewalk planning. Astronaut Richard Gordon and Alan Bean - YouTube ", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. NASA satellite crash not source of mysterious flash of light above Ukraine capital, agency claims, Funko Games unveils new cranium-busting 'Star Trek Cryptic' tabletop game, See asteroid Iris 7 make its close approach to Earth tonight, Your monthly guide to stargazing & space science, Subscribe for just 1 per issue with our Spring Savings, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. Richard Francis Gordon Jr. (October 5, 1929 - November 6, 2017) was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, and a football executive. It originates from the personal collection of Richard Gordon and was obtained from him by Farthest Reaches in 2007. After missing the second intake of astronauts, Gordon joined Nasa in 1963 with the third group, which included Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Gene Cernan. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, as the Command Module Pilot for the Apollo 12 mission. The Apollo 12 astronaut Richard "Dick" F Gordon Jr, one of a dozen men who flew to the moon but didn't land, has died . NASA - 'Apollo 18' Myths Debunked, NASA-style NASA and the nation have lost one of our early space pioneers. Officially, the last Americans walked on the moon during Apollo 17 in 1972. All rights reserved. Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/ASU Gordon was born on October 5, 1929, in Seattle, Washington. Gordon completed two spacewalks during Gemini 11 which, if nothing else, showed NASA and the astronauts that they still had to figure out the best way to conduct a spacewalk. Painful for me because I wanted to complete it. Harrison Schmitt - Wikipedia [1] Gordon had already flown in space as the pilot of the 1966 Gemini 11 mission. It turned out that he was good at it. ", Interviews with Dick Gordon: "NASA and the nation have lost one of our early space pioneers," Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot said in a statement. Data Visualizer: "We were extremely compatible and had a lot of fun. Former Apollo 12 astronaut Richard Gordon, one of a dozen men who flew around the moon but didn't land there, has died aged 88. . The only surprise on Apollo 12 was a lightning strike," he recalled in 1997, referring to a storm during launch that temporarily affected the command module's systems until a NASA controller radioed in a backup command. In November 1969, he flew as command module pilot of Apollo 12, the second crewed mission to land on the Moon.