Roosa, Stuart

Born Aug. 16, 1933, in Durango, Colo. American astronaut; air force major.

Roosa joined the air force in 1953. After graduating in 1962 from the University of Colorado, where he received the degree of bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering, he spent two years as a pilot and director of engineering services at various air force bases. Upon completing the pilot training school for aerospace research in 1965, he served as an experimental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California. In 1966 he joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as a member of the astronaut team. Together with A. Shepard and E. Mitchell, he took part in the Apollo 14 moon mission, which lasted from Feb. 1–Feb. 10, 1971. Roosa remained in the command module and completed 35 revolutions in lunar orbit during the course of more than 48 hours. During this time he took photographs and made soundings and observations of the moon. The flight lasted 216 hours and 2 minutes.