Evans, Ronald Ellwin

Born Nov. 10,1933, in St. Francis, Kan. US pilot and astronaut. Captain in the navy.

Evans graduated from the University of Kansas in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Upon completion of courses in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, he became a naval pilot. He graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey in 1964 with a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering.

Evans joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut corps in 1966. From Dec. 7 to Dec. 19,1972, as pilot of the Apollo 17 command module, he completed a flight to the moon with E. Cernan and H. Schmitt. Over a period of 147 hr 48 min, Evans completed 75 lunar orbits, providing support for Cernan and Schmitt’s mission on the surface of the moon. On the return leg of the flight—a distance of 300,000 km from the earth—Evans spent 67 min outside the spacecraft. The entire flight lasted 12 days 9 hr 51 min.