NASA honored veteran astronaut Richard Gordon, Jr., as an Ambassador of Exploration during a ceremony at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. Ambassadors of Exploration help NASA communicate the benefits and excitement of space exploration.
NASA is presenting these prestigious awards to the astronauts who took part in the nation’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs from 1961 to 1972. Gordon was one of the three astronauts on Apollo 12, the second lunar landing mission.
Former NASA astronaut Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, the museum president and CEO, participated in the ceremony. In addition to receiving the Exploration Award plaque, Gordon was presented with a moon rock to recognize the sacrifices and dedication of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts.
The moon rocks are part of the 842 pounds of samples returned during the six lunar expeditions from 1969 to 1972. Dunbar received the moon rock on behalf of the museum, where it will remain on display.
Gordon, a retired U. S. Navy captain, became an astronaut in 1963. He spent more than 316 hours in space on two missions. He was the pilot aboard Gemini 11 in 1966. At the time of the flight, Gemini 11 set the world altitude record of 850 miles.
Gordon made a second flight in 1969 as command pilot on Apollo 12 with spacecraft commander, Charles Conrad and lunar module pilot, Alan Bean. Throughout the 31-hour lunar surface stay by Conrad and Bean, Gordon remained in orbit around the moon on the command module, “Yankee Clipper.”
Gordon took mapping photographs of tentative future lunar landing sites and performed the final re-docking maneuvers following the successful rendezvous initiated by Conrad and Bean after their ascent from the moon’s surface.
Since retiring from NASA, Gordon has served as Executive Vice President of the New Orleans Saints Professional Football Club in the National Football League and owned an engineering team.
For Gordon’s astronaut biography on the Web, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/gordon-rf.html
For Museum of Flight information on the Web, visit:
http://www.museumofflight.org