Harrison Hagan Schmitt

Born July 3, 1935, in Santa Rita, N.M. US astronaut.

Schmitt graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1957 with a B.S. in geology. He studied at the University of Oslo in 1957 and 1958 and received a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard University in 1964. Schmitt worked in Oslo for the Norwegian Geological Survey, in New Mexico and Montana for the US Geological Survey, and in Alaska for two summers as a geologist for a private concern.

Schmitt became a member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut corps in 1965. Immediately before his association with the Manned Spacecraft Center, he worked at the Astrogeological Center of the US Geological Survey in Arizona, where he helped compile maps of the moon and the planets. From Dec. 7 to Dec. 19,1972, as pilot of the Apollo 17 lunar landing module, Schmitt made a flight to the moon with E. Cernan and R. Evans. With Schmitt and Cernan aboard, the lunar module touched down in the Taurus-Littrow Valley on December 11. Schmitt’s 75 hr on the moon included three excursions onto the surface, for a total of 22 hr 5 min of extravehicular activity. Schmitt and Cernan used what was called a lunar rover to move about on the moon. The entire flight lasted 12 days 9 hr 51 min.