Mitchell, Edgar

Born Sept. 17, 1930, in Hereford, Texas. American astronaut; navy captain. Has served in the US Navy since 1952.

Mitchell graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School and was a pilot until 1959. He graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pa., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964, receiving the degree of doctor of science in aeronautics and astronautics. In 1964 he was sent to the Aerospace Pilot School. In 1966 he joined the astronaut team of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As pilot of the lunar module of the Apollo 14 spacecraft he completed a flight to the moon with A. Shepard and S. Roosa on Feb. 1–10, 1971. The lunar module carrying Mitchell and Shepard landed on the moon in the region of the Fra Mauro crater on Feb. 5, 1971. Mitchell stayed on the moon for 33 hours and 30 minutes, including two walks on its surface lasting four hours each. During this time he carried out selenological studies and a number of technological experiments.