American astronaut and lunar explorer (1933?1990)
Ronald Evans
|
---|
Evans in 1971
|
Born
| Ronald Ellwin Evans Jr.
(
1933-11-10
)
November 10, 1933
|
---|
Died
| April 7, 1990
(1990-04-07)
(aged 56)
|
---|
Education
| |
---|
Awards
| |
---|
Space career
|
|
Rank
| Captain
,
USN
|
---|
Time in space
| 12d 13h 52m
|
---|
Selection
| NASA Group 5 (1966)
|
---|
| 1
|
---|
Total EVA time
| 1h 5m
|
---|
Missions
| Apollo 17
|
---|
Mission insignia
| |
---|
Retirement
| March 15, 1977
|
---|
|
Ronald Ellwin Evans Jr.
(November 10, 1933 ? April 7, 1990) was an American
electrical engineer
,
aeronautical engineer
, officer and
aviator
in the
United States Navy
, and
NASA astronaut
. As
Command Module Pilot
on
Apollo 17
he was one of the 24 astronauts to fly to the Moon, and one of
12 people to fly to the Moon without landing
.
Before becoming an astronaut, Evans graduated with a
Bachelor of Science
degree in
electrical engineering
from the
University of Kansas
and joined the U.S. Navy in 1956. After receiving his naval aviator
wings
, he served as a
fighter pilot
and flew
combat
missions during the
Vietnam War
. In 1964 he received a
Master of Science
degree in
aeronautical engineering
from the U.S.
Naval Postgraduate School
. Achieving the rank of
captain
, he retired from the Navy in 1976.
Evans was selected as an astronaut by NASA as part of
NASA Astronaut Group 5
in 1966 and made his only
spaceflight
as command Module pilot aboard Apollo 17 in December 1972, the last crewed mission to the
Moon
, with Commander
Gene Cernan
and
Lunar Module
Pilot
Harrison Schmitt
. During the flight, Evans
and five mice
orbited the Moon a record 75 times as his two crewmates descended to and explored the surface. He is the last person to orbit the Moon alone and, at 147 hours and 43 minutes, holds the record for the most time spent in lunar orbit. During Apollo 17's return flight to Earth, Evans performed an
extravehicular activity
(EVA) to retrieve film cassettes from the
service module
. It was the third "deep space" EVA, and is the spacewalk performed at the greatest distance from any planetary body. As of 2024
[update]
, it remains one of only three deep space EVAs, all made during the
Apollo program
's
J-missions
. It was the final spacewalk of the Apollo program.
In 1975, Evans served as backup Command Module Pilot for the
Apollo?Soyuz Test Project
mission. He worked on the development of the
Space Shuttle
before retiring from NASA in March 1977 to become a coal industry executive.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Ronald Ellwin Evans was born on November 10, 1933, in
St. Francis, Kansas
,
[1]
the son of Clarence Ellwin (Jim) Evans and his wife Marie
nee
Priebe
.
He had two younger siblings, Larry Joe Evans and Jay Evans.
He was active in the
Boy Scouts of America
where he achieved its second highest rank,
Life Scout
.
[4]
He attended St Francis Elementary School. His father served in the
United States Navy
during
World War II
. Evans started his secondary education at St Francis High School, but only attended for two months before the family moved to
Topeka, Kansas
to seek medical treatment for his brother Larry, who was diagnosed with
liver cancer
. Larry died in 1951, and his parents separated. Evans attended
Highland Park High School
in Topeka, where he served on the Student Council, and was the president of the Science Club. He was a member of the school
American football
team,
and was an All-Conference
guard
.
His other brother, Dale, secured a football scholarship to
Kansas State University
where he played
college football
, and later played professionally for the
Denver Broncos
. Later Dale served two tours of duty in Vietnam with the
United States Marine Corps
.
[6]
Evans decided to study
electrical engineering
at the
University of Kansas
. His application was accepted, and he was offered a place starting in September 1951. His family had little money, so in order to pay for his college education he secured a scholarship from the
Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps
(NROTC). During the fraternities
rush week
he joined the
Sigma Nu
fraternity. He earned extra money selling
Chesterfield
cigarettes, and had a cigarette vending machine installed in the Sigma Nu fraternity house. NROTC training involved a parade for one hour each week, and during the summer break there were midshipman cruises on warships. The first was on the
battleship
USS
Wisconsin
. In his
sophomore
year there was an introduction to naval aviation at
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi
in Texas. This experience inspired Evans to become a
naval aviator
. The third year cruise was to Europe on the
USS
Gwin
, a
destroyer minelayer
. In his
junior year
he was elected to the
Sigma Tau
,
Tau Beta Pi
and
Sigma Xi
engineering honor societies. During his final summer break he worked in a glass factory to gain general engineering experience. He graduated with his
Bachelor of Science
degree in electrical engineering in June 1956.
Navy
[
edit
]
In a letter dated December 12, 1955, the Navy offered Evans a commission as an
ensign
and designated him a student aviator. He reported to
Naval Air Station Pensacola
in February 1956 for basic flight training in the
Beechcraft T-34 Mentor
, and made his first solo flight on May 21. He then progressed to the more powerful
North American T-28 Trojan
. His flight training then moved to
Naval Outlying Landing Field Barin
in
Alabama
, where student aviators practised landing on an
aircraft carrier
using an outline painted on the runway in the old
North American T-6 Texan
(known as the SNJ). Six actual landings were then made on the aircraft carrier
USS
Saipan
.
Evans returned to Topeka for Christmas leave. There he met Janet Merle (Jan) Pollom, who worked as a secretary at
Forbes Air Force Base
, and fell in love with her.
On January 4, 1957, he reported to
Naval Air Station Memphis
, where he was taught instrument flying, culminating in a
ground-controlled approach
test. He then learned how to fly a jet aircraft, the
Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star
. In a ceremony on April 12 attended by Pollom, her mother, and Evans' mother, the chief of the Naval Air Technical Training Command,
Rear Admiral
Frank P. Akers
handed out certificates to Evans' class designating them as naval aviator. Pollom pinned his
aviator wings
on his uniform.
Evans became a
fighter pilot
with Fighter Squadron 142 (
VF-142
), which was based at
Naval Air Station Miramar
in
California
, although it was still aboard the aircraft carrier
USS
Hornet
when he arrived on July 14, 1957, and did not reach Miramar until July 25. The squadron was due to receive the new
Vought F8U Crusader
fighter, but these had not yet arrived, and in the meantime they flew the old
North American FJ-3 Fury
.
He was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant (junior grade)
, and married Pollom at the
Westminster Presbyterian Church of Topeka
on December 22, 1957. They had two children: a daughter, Jaime Dayle, and a son, Jon.
In January 1959, VF-142 boarded the brand new aircraft carrier
USS
Ranger
, and set off on a cruise of the Western Pacific, which lasted until July 27, 1959.
[13]
Afterwards, most of VF-142 was posted elsewhere, and Evans was one of the five pilots that remained. They took delivery of new model F8U Crusaders, and were joined by new pilots who had to be trained to fly them. The squadron was then assigned to the aircraft carrier
USS
Oriskany
, which departed for a tour of the Western Pacific on May 14, and returned to
San Diego
on December 15. During the voyage, Evans completed correspondence coursework for promotion to
lieutenant
, and was promoted to that rank in June.
With the completion of back to back deployments, he became a
flight instructor
for the F8U Crusader with Fighter Squadron 124 (
VF-124
), but until it moved to Miramar in June, he had to fly the
Grumman F9F Cougar
, although he was able to fly the F8U Crusader once a week or so to stay familiar with it.
In 1962, Evans entered the U.S.
Naval Postgraduate School
in
Monterey, California
. Fellow students there at the time included
Robert H. Shumaker
,
Gene Cernan
,
Richard F. Gordon Jr.
,
Paul J. Weitz
and
Jack Lousma
.
[16]
On June 5, 1963, the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) announced that it would be recruiting
a new group
of
astronauts
. Military applications were due by July 15.
They were pre-screened by the services,
and those that the Navy regarded as qualified were contacted and invited to apply.
[19]
Evans was on leave in Topeka, and received this notification in the form of a
telegram
. He submitted the required paperwork on July 6.
Cernan, Evans, Gordon and Shumaker were among the 34 finalists that NASA invited to undergo a week of medical and physiological tests at
Brooks Air Force Base
in
San Antonio, Texas
.
Six were eliminated at this point; the remaining 28, including Evans, were invited to come to
Houston, Texas
for interviews and testing.
[22]
On October 14, Cernan and Evans were both called out of class to take long distance calls from NASA. For Cernan, it was a call from
Deke Slayton
, NASA's Director of Space Flight Operations, informing that he had been chosen; for Evans, it was one from
Al Shepard
, informing him that he had not.
[24]
Evans returned to his studies. The Navy frowned on officers loafing while still drawing pay during the summer break, so the students had to take summer classes. Evans chose to take a course in Russian at the
Defense Language Institute
at the
Presidio of Monterey
.
He graduated with a
Master of Science
degree in
aeronautical engineering
in 1964.
[1]
After two years ashore, Evans rejoined VF-124 to re-qualify for aircraft carrier duty.
He was then assigned to Fighter Squadron 51 (
VF-51
), once again flying the F8U Crusader. The ship was already engaged in a combat tour of the Western Pacific on board the aircraft carrier
USS
Ticonderoga
, an older sister ship of the
Oriskany
, so Evans was flown to
Naval Air Station Cubi Point
in the Philippines, where he collected an F8U Crusader that had been set aside for him, and flew out to the ship.
The
Ticonderoga
returned to San Diego in December 1964. Evans was appointed the squadron maintenance officer, a position usually held by a
lieutenant commander
, and soon after received a spot promotion to that rank.
The
Ticonderoga
departed for its next Western Pacific cruise in September 1965, but this was not a normal peacetime cruise; the
Ticonderoga
was assigned to
Dixie Station
off the coast of
South Vietnam
, from whence aircraft carriers launched strikes in support of American and South Vietnamese troops engaged in combat operations in the
Vietnam War
. During a training exercise, Evans collided with his wingman, Lieutenant Roy E. Miller. Evans had to land at
Tan Son Nhut Air Base
because his aircraft was too badly damaged to be recovered by an aircraft carrier, and it had to be shipped back to the United States for repairs. It was seen by his wife, who recorded a duet of
Side by Side
with Miller's wife, adding to the ribbing Evans received from his shipmates. Within days he was flying combat missions over South Vietnam. Ordnance was in short supply, so in order to inflate the number of
sorties
flown, aircraft seldom carried full bomb loads. Evans' aircraft was holed by ground fire.
On September 10, 1965, NASA announced that it was recruiting
another group of pilot astronauts
.
[28]
Once again, the
Bureau of Naval Personnel
(BUPERS) contacted Evans and asked if he wanted to volunteer, which he did. On November 12, a package of forms was received by his wife Jan in San Diego, with a cover letter that explained that BUPERS had recommended Evans to NASA. She contacted Slayton, and explained that Evans was on a deployment in the Western Pacific, and was unlikely to be able to return the forms before the December 1 deadline. Slayton reassured her that this would be taken into consideration. Evans managed to mail the forms on December 7. A few weeks later a letter arrived informing Evans that once again he had made the short list, and was invited to come to Brooks Air Force Base for another round of tests.
Ticonderoga
was back on Dixie station by January 28, and Evans was flying attack missions against
Viet Cong
insurgents. On that day, his aircraft suffered an electrical failure and he was left with a bomb under his right wing that he was unable to jettison. This made it too dangerous to attempt a landing on the
Ticonderoga
, so he was ordered to proceed to
Cam Ranh Air Force Base
, Evans skidded on the wet
Marston Mat
runway and went 6.1 metres (20 ft) off its end. The bomb did not explode. Evans was taken to the office of the base commander, where a
United States Air Force
sergeant handed him orders to proceed to Texas for astronaut selection. Once again, Evans endured the battery of medical and psychological tests, and was chosen as one of the 35 finalists to be interviewed at the
Rice Hotel
. His
temporary duty assignment
only covered the tests, but BUPERS extended it to March 5, and then turned down his squadron commander's request for a replacement officer. As it happened, Evans did not miss much action, as the
Ticonderoga
departed
Subic Bay
in the Philippines for
Sasebo
, Japan, on February 17, but it was back on Dixie Station by March 6. Eleven days later, Evans participated in an attack on Viet Cong units that earned him a
Navy Commendation Medal
. On March 26, he received word that he had been selected for astronaut training.
He was one of the nineteen astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966.
[31]
Evans completed a seven-month tour of duty flying
combat missions
. In his Navy service, Evans had logged 2,084 hours of flight time, including 4,600 hours in
jet aircraft
.
[32]
He had flown 112 combat missions. In a ceremony on the
Ticonderoga
'
s
flight deck
on April 1, he was awarded gold
5/16 inch stars
in lieu of his second, third, fourth and fifth
Air Medals
. He flew his last mission, a
combat air patrol
, on April 21.
NASA
[
edit
]
Support crew
[
edit
]
The
Ticonderoga
left Dixie station on April 21, 1966, and returned to San Diego on May 16. Evans preceded it, after taking a mail plane to the Philippines, and then a
Military Air Transport Service
flight to San Diego, which he reached on April 28. He then took a flight to Houston on May 1. The family remained in San Diego until his daughter Jaime finished her school year in late May. In the meantime Evans and Jan bought a four-bedroom house in
El Lago, Texas
. It was newly built, with no furniture, and the electricity and telephone still to be connected. The family set out for Houston on June 6, taking four days to make the journey in their
Rambler
station wagon
. As their furniture had not yet arrived, they initially stayed in quarters at
Ellington Air Force Base
. The family was finally able to move in on July 6. Evans' Navy Commendation Medal citation was forwarded to NASA, and the medal was presented to him, along with a silver 5/16 inch star in lieu of his sixth Air Medal and gold 5/16 inch stars in lieu of his seventh and eighth, by
Robert Gilruth
, the director of NASA's
Manned Spacecraft Center
.
In earlier astronaut groups, the senior astronaut had assumed the role of
command module pilot
(CMP) while the more junior was the lunar module pilot (LMP), but the Nineteen were divided into
Command/Service Module
(CSM) and
Lunar Module
(LM) specialists. Slayton asked each of the Nineteen which speciality he preferred, but made the final decision himself. This early division of assignments would have a profound effect on their subsequent careers. Evans became a CSM specialist.
He was chosen as a member of the support crew for
Apollo 1
, the first crewed
Project Apollo
mission, along with
Ed Givens
and
Jack Swigert
, two fellow members of his astronaut group. The astronauts assigned to this duty regarded it as the lowest rung on the ladder.
Usually low in seniority, they assembled the mission's rules,
flight plan
, and checklists, and kept them updated, and worked in the simulators developing procedures, especially those for emergency situations. They also stood by during spacecraft tests on the launch pad, and set up the cockpit, ensuring that all the switches were in the right positions.
[37]
In this role, Evans worked inside the Apollo spacecraft for a couple of hours on January 26, 1967. The support crew then flew back to Houston. On landing at Ellington Air Force Base they were informed that the prime crew had died in a fire inside the spacecraft.
When planning for Apollo missions resumed, Evans, Givens and Swigert were assigned to the support crew of
Apollo 7
, which would now be the first crewed flight.
Givens was killed in a motor vehicle accident on June 6, 1967,
and was replaced on the support crew by
Bill Pogue
.
Evans was subsequently a member of the support crew for
Apollo 11
, the first Moon landing,
and he was a
capsule communicator
(CAPCOM) for Apollo 7, Apollo 11 and
Apollo 14
.
Backup crew
[
edit
]
Under the rotation scheme developed by Slayton, the role of backup commander (CDR) for Apollo 13 would have been
John Young
, the CMP of
Apollo 10
, and that of Apollo 14 would have been the CMP of Apollo 11,
Michael Collins
. They would then become the prime crew CDRs of
Apollo 16
and
Apollo 17
respectively. However, Cernan baulked at reprising his role as LMP with Young, holding out for his own mission. This became available when Collins declined the opportunity to lead a mission to the Moon. Cernan was therefore selected as backup CDR of Apollo 14 in his stead.
[43]
This was fortunate for Evans as well; Slayton consulted with Cernan about the selection of the rest of his Apollo 14 backup crew, and they chose Evans as CMP and
Joe Engle
as LMP.
[45]
The prime crew for Apollo 14 would be
Alan Shepard
, the
Chief of the Astronaut Office
as CDR,
Edgar Mitchell
as LMP and
Stu Roosa
as CMP. Evans' selection as a member of the Apollo 14 backup crew was formally announced by NASA on August 6, 1969.
[46]
He was still a serving naval officer, and on October 1, 1969, was promoted to
commander
.
That the backup crew of Apollo 14 would in due course become the prime crew of Apollo 17 as per the rotation scheme was far from certain. The absence of science astronauts on the prime or backup crews of Apollo 13 and Apollo 14 caused adverse reaction in the media, and there was pressure from the scientific community to send a scientist to the Moon.
When Slayton announced the crew for
Apollo 15
on March 26, 1970,
geologist
astronaut
Harrison Schmitt
was named as backup LMP, with
Vance Brand
as backup CMP and Richard Gordon as backup CDR. Under the rotation scheme, they could expect to become the prime crew for
Apollo 18
.
When Apollo 18 was cancelled in September 1970, the scientific community pressed NASA to assign Schmitt, a geologist, to Apollo 17 rather than a pilot with non-professional geological training. This left Slayton with the question of who would fill the two other Apollo 17 slots: the rest of the Apollo 15 backup crew or the Apollo 14 backup crew (except for Engle). Gordon's crew's experience as backup to Apollo 15 was more relevant for the proposed Apollo 17 mission, as Apollo 15 was a similar J-class mission using the Extended Lunar Module, capable of three-day stays on the Moon, and carrying the
Lunar Roving Vehicle
. Nor was support for assigning Cernan to Apollo 17 unanimous within NASA;
Tom Stafford
, the acting chief of the Astronaut office with Shepard assigned to Apollo 14, strongly supported Cernan, with whom he had flown on
Gemini 9A
and Apollo 10, as did Shepard; but Gordon was supported by
James McDivitt
, the manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, and
Pete Conrad
, who had been Gordon's CDR on Apollo 12. Cernan crashed a
Bell 47G helicopter
into the
Indian River
near
Cape Canaveral
during a training exercise in January 1971; the accident was attributed to pilot error, as Cernan had misjudged his altitude before crashing into the water. Slayton dismissed concerns about Cernan's judgment. After being offered command of the mission, Cernan objected to Engle's omission from the crew, but acquiesced when it became clear that Schmitt would fly on Apollo 17 with or without Cernan. The fate of the CMP was tied to that of his CDR.
[51]
The prime crew of Apollo 17 was publicly announced on August 13, 1971.
[52]
The original backup crew for Apollo 17, announced at the same time, was the crew of Apollo 15:
David Scott
as CDR,
Alfred Worden
as CMP and
James Irwin
as LMP;
[52]
but they were removed because of their roles in the
Apollo 15 postal covers incident
.
On May 23, 1972, they were replaced with Young and Duke from the crew of Apollo 16, as backup CDR and LMP respectively, and Roosa from the Apollo 14 crew as backup CMP. Thus, Evans served as Roosa's backup on Apollo 14, and Roosa as Evans' backup on Apollo 17.
[54]
[55]
[57]
The two men studied geology with
Farouk El-Baz
, often on their own time. They became close friends. They would talk about the Moon and the mission at length, and often end with a few beers.
Their training was directed at developing the ability to make observations and take photographs of features from orbit. They would fly over geological features in NASA
Northrop T-38 Talon
jets and tape record their observations and take photographs. These would then be critiqued by geologists.
Farouk sometimes flew with Evans or Roosa in the T-38s or small
United States Geological Survey
aircraft.
Prime crew
[
edit
]
While suited up for the Apollo 17 mission, but before his helmet was attached, Evans smoked a last cigarette. His crewmates had urged him to quit, and Schmitt suggested that he could take advantage of the two-week mission to go
cold turkey
.
An estimated 700,000 people watched the night launch from the
Kennedy Space Center
, the largest crowd of spectators since Apollo 11.
The flight plan kept Evans busy, making him so tired he overslept one morning by an hour, despite the efforts of Mission Control to awaken him. Before the LM departed for the lunar surface, he had discovered that he had misplaced his pair of scissors, necessary to open food packets. Cernan and Schmitt lent him one of theirs.
While Cernan and Schmitt landed on the Moon and explored the
Taurus?Littrow valley
, Evans remained in lunar orbit on board the Command Module
America
, completing assigned work tasks which required visual geological observations, hand-held photography of specific targets, and the control of cameras and other highly sophisticated scientific equipment carried in the service module's
SIM bay
.
[1]
Cernan and Schmitt referred to Evans as "Captain America", after the
comic book character
.
The orbit of the CSM having been modified to an elliptical orbit in preparation for the LM's departure and eventual descent, one of Evans' first solo tasks in the CSM was to circularize its orbit such that the CSM would remain at approximately the same distance above the surface throughout its orbit. Thereafter, he observed ten visual targets that had been assigned prior to launch, all of which were successfully identified during the course of the mission. He focused on surface features as well as the
solar corona
at "sunrise," or the period of time during which the CSM would pass from the darkened portion of the Moon to the illuminated portion when the Moon itself mostly obscured the sun. To photograph portions of the surface that were not illuminated by the sun while Evans passed over them, Evans relied in conjunction on
exposure
and
Earthlight
. Evans photographed such features as the craters
Eratosthenes
and Copernicus, as well as the vicinity of
Mare Orientale
, using this technique.
According to the Apollo 17 Mission Report, Evans was able to capture all scientific photographic targets, as well as some other targets of interest.
The instruments in the SIM bay functioned without significant hindrance during the orbital portion of the mission, though the two antennas of the lunar sounder as well as the mapping camera encountered minor issues. The indicator on the instrument panel for the extension of one of the sounder's antennas was not functional and the second antenna suffered an apparent stall during its extension. Despite these technical difficulties, both antennas were deployed fully and the sounder achieved its planned observational purpose. Similarly, the extension and retraction of the mapping camera took longer than planned (about four minutes, longer than the nominal two) and, though deployment and retraction was not otherwise hindered, the use of this piece of equipment was reduced to avoid exhausting it by overuse.
Evans was also responsible for piloting the CSM during the orbital phase of the mission, maneuvering the spacecraft to alter and maintain its orbital trajectory. In addition to the initial orbital recircularization maneuver shortly after the LM's departure, one of the final significant solo activities Evans performed in the CSM in preparation for the return of his crewmates from the lunar surface was the
plane change
maneuver. This maneuver was meant to align the CSM's trajectory to the eventual trajectory of the LM to facilitate rendezvous in orbit. Evans fired the SPS engine of the CSM for about 20 seconds in successfully adjusting the CSM's orbital plane.
He holds the record of most time spent in
lunar orbit
: 147 hours, 43 minutes and 37.11 seconds.
[69]
Hot diggety dog!
Evans, upon taking his first steps in space.
[70]
On the way back to Earth, Evans completed a one-hour, five-minute, 44-second
extravehicular activity
, during which he made three trips to the scientific instrument module (SIM) bay to retrieve lunar sounder film, the panoramic camera, and three camera mapping cassettes, and completed a personal inspection of the equipment bay area.
For this Evans donned Cernan's lunar visor assembly with its red stripe, and the top part of his lunar backpack. He set up the movie camera and TV camera to record the EVA, allowing it to be televised live.
After a flight of 301 hours, 51 minutes and 59 seconds,
America
splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, where it was retrieved by the
Ticonderoga
.
To the dismay of his Apollo 17 crewmates, the first thing that Evans did when he got on board was ask one of the crew for a cigarette.
Astronauts normally received a spot promotion on the successful completion of a mission; Evans' promotion to
captain
was made official in January 1973. He received his Navy
astronaut wings
from
John Warner
, the
United States Secretary of the Navy
. The Apollo 17 crew were feted at parties and receptions. They were driven around the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
at
Super Bowl VII
, they met Elvis Presley in Las Vegas and were hosted by President
Richard Nixon
at the
White House
and
Camp David
. Cernan and Evans refused to meet with
Muhammad Ali
because of the boxer's 1967 refusal to serve in the U.S. armed forces, but accepted hospitality from
Frank Sinatra
.
Evans was later backup CMP for the 1975
Apollo?Soyuz Test Project
(ASTP) mission.
[69]
The Russian he had learned years before came in handy, but was limited. Asked to give a speech at a cosmonauts' dinner event, he recited
Humpty Dumpty
in Russian, which his hosts found hilarious.
Evans retired from the U.S. Navy as captain on April 30, 1976, with 21 years of service, but remained active as a NASA astronaut involved in the development of NASA's
Space Shuttle program
.
[69]
[1]
He served as a member of the operations and training group within the Astronaut Office, responsible for launch and ascent phases of the
Space Shuttle
program.
[69]
He retired from NASA on March 8, 1977.
[76]
Later years
[
edit
]
Jan's parents had retired to live in
Sun City, Arizona
, and Jan was eager to move to nearby
Scottsdale, Arizona
, so Evans looked for a job there. A chance encounter led to an offer to become the director of marketing at the Scottsdale-based Western America Energy Corporation. Evans soon became disillusioned with the company and the industry and quit. He then found a position with
Sperry Flight Systems
, which made electronic components and cockpit instrumentation for the Space Shuttle, as its Director of Space Systems Marketing. But the president of the company who had brought him in died, and Evans had a falling out with his successor. He left to form his own consulting company, and formed a lucrative partnership with a Japanese entrepreneur who was building a theme park devoted to space exploration.
Evans died in his sleep of a
heart attack
at his home in Scottsdale on April 7, 1990, at the age of 56.
[78]
[79]
He was buried at the Valley Presbyterian Church Memorial Garden in
Paradise Valley, Arizona
, where Jan would leave a red rose on the anniversaries of his birth, marriage, spaceflight and death.
Awards and honors
[
edit
]
Evans was awarded the
NASA Distinguished Service Medal
in 1973,
[81]
the
Johnson Space Center
Superior Achievement Award in 1970, the
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
in 1973, Navy Astronaut Wings, eight Air Medals, the
Vietnam Service Medal
, and the Navy Commendation Medal with combat distinguishing service.
[82]
He received a University of Kansas Distinguished Service Citation in 1973, and was named Kansan of the Year in 1972.
He was inducted into the
International Space Hall of Fame
in 1983,
[82]
[84]
and the
U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame
on October 4, 1997.
[85]
[86]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Biographical data: Ronald E. Evans (Captain, USN ret.) NASA Astronaut (deceased)"
(PDF)
. NASA. April 1990
. Retrieved
January 21,
2021
.
- ^
"Astronauts With Scouting Experience"
. IEEE. July 31, 2019
. Retrieved
January 20,
2022
.
- ^
"Obituary of Jay Dale Evans"
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References
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edit
]
- Apollo 17 Mission Report
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External links
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