This article is about Alan Bean the astronaut, for the activist, see Alan Bean (activist)

Alan LaVern Bean
Astronaut
Nationality	American
Born	March 15, 1932 (1932-03-15) (age 76) Wheeler, Texas
Other occupation	Test pilot
Rank	Captain, USN
Space time	69d 15h 45m
Selection	1963 NASA Group
Missions	Apollo 12, Skylab 3
Mission insignia

Alan LaVern Bean (born March 15, 1932) is a former NASA Astronaut and became the fourth man to walk on the moon at the age of thirty-seven years in November 1969. Alan Bean a mild mannered white former minister working to uncover injustice and organize black opposition in the racial controversies surrounding the Tulia 46 drug sting in The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Wheeler is a city in Wheeler County, Texas, United States, situated on the eastern edge of the Texas Panhandle. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Test pilots are Aviators who fly new and modified Aircraft in specific maneuvers allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated See " Captain " for other versions of this rank In the uniformed services of the United States, captain is a federal 1957 - Man In Space Soonest Group 1 - USA Neil A Armstrong, Albert S Skylab 3 (also SL-3 and SLM-2) was the second manned mission to Skylab. Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program An astronaut or cosmonaut (космона́вт) is a person trained This is a list of all Astronauts directly associated with NASA 's Apollo program.

Biography

Bean was born in Wheeler in the northeastern Texas Panhandle. Wheeler is a city in Wheeler County, Texas, United States, situated on the eastern edge of the Texas Panhandle. The Texas Panhandle is a region of the US state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state As a boy, he lived in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, where his father worked for the Soil Conservation Service. Minden is a city in and the Parish seat of Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. Webster Parish is a Parish located in the US state of Louisiana. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Bean graduated from R. L. Paschal High School in Fort Worth, Texas. RL Paschal High School is a secondary school located in Fort Worth, Texas. Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventeenth-largest city in the United States. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. He received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1955. A Bachelor of Science ( BS, BSc or BSc in the UK; less commonly S Aerospace engineering is the branch of Engineering behind the design construction and science of Aircraft and Spacecraft. Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) At UT he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Delta Kappa Epsilon ( ΔΚΕ; also pronounced D-K-E or "Deke" is a Fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore Fraternities and sororities (from the Latin words la frater and la soror, meaning "brother" and "sister" respectively are fraternal After a four year tour as a fighter pilot assigned to a jet attack squadron in Jacksonville, Fla. ^[1], he trained as a Navy Test Pilot where his instructor was his future Apollo 12 Commander Pete Conrad. Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr ( June 2, 1930 &ndash July 8, 1999) was an American Astronaut and the third He was awarded an honorary doctorate of science from Texas Wesleyan College in 1972, and was presented an honorary doctorate of engineering science degree from the University of Akron (Ohio) in 1974. Texas Wesleyan University is a private College located in the southeast part of Fort Worth, Texas. The University of Akron is an open enrollment regional institution of higher learning located in Akron Ohio.

NASA experience

Apollo

Bean was selected by NASA as part of group 3 in 1963. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He was selected to be the backup Command Pilot for Gemini 10 but was unsuccessful in securing an early Apollo flight assignment. Gemini 10 (officially Gemini X) was a 1966 Manned spaceflight in NASA 's Gemini program. He was placed in the Apollo Applications Program in the interim. When fellow astronaut Clifton Williams was killed in an air crash, a space was opened for Bean on the back-up crew for Apollo 9. This article is about the American astronaut For the composer see Clifton Williams (composer. Apollo 12 Commander Conrad, who had instructed Bean at the Naval Flight Test School years before, personally requested Bean to replace Williams.

Bean was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, the second lunar landing. In November 1969, Al Bean and Pete Conrad landed in the moon's Ocean of Storms—after a flight of 250,000 miles and a launch that included a harrowing lightning strike. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr ( June 2, 1930 &ndash July 8, 1999) was an American Astronaut and the third Oceanus Procellarum (oʊˈsiːənəs ˌprɒsəˈlɛərəm Latin for "Ocean of Storms" is a vast Lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of They explored the lunar surface, deployed several lunar surface experiments, and installed the first nuclear power generator station on the moon to provide the power source. This is a list of all Astronauts directly associated with NASA 's Apollo program. Dick Gordon remained in lunar orbit photographing landing sites for future missions. Richard Francis Gordon Jr, Captain, USN, Ret (born October 5, 1929) is a retired NASA Astronaut.

Alan Bean on the moon during Apollo 12

Skylab

Bean was also the spacecraft commander of Skylab 3, the second manned mission to Skylab, July 29, 1973 to September 25, 1973. Skylab 3 (also SL-3 and SLM-2) was the second manned mission to Skylab. Skylab was the first Space station the United States launched into orbit and the second space station ever visited by a human crew Events 1014 - Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Events 303 - On a voyage preaching the Gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens, France Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. With him on the 59-day, 24,400,000 mile world record setting flight were scientist-astronaut Dr. Owen Garriott and Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Jack Lousma. Owen Kay Garriott, PhD (born November 22, 1930) is a former NASA Astronaut who spent 60 days aboard Skylab in 1973 and Jack Robert Lousma (born February 29, 1936) is a former NASA Astronaut. During the mission Bean also tested a prototype of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and performed one space walk outside the Skylab. A Manned Maneuvering Unit ( MMU) is a Rocket pack ( propulsion Backpack that snaps onto the back of the Spacesuit) which has been used

Post-flight experience

On his next assignment, Bean was backup spacecraft commander of the United States flight crew for the joint American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Bean retired from the Navy in October 1975 as a Captain but continued as head of the Astronaut Candidate Operations and Training Group within the Astronaut Office in a civilian capacity.

Bean as an artist

Bean resigned from NASA in June 1981 to devote his full time to painting. Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Many of his paintings reside on the walls of space enthusiasts. He said his decision was based on the fact that, in his 18 years as an astronaut, he was fortunate enough to visit worlds and see sights no artist's eye, past or present, has ever viewed firsthand and he hopes to express these experiences through the medium of art. He is pursuing this dream at his home and studio in Houston.

As a painter, Bean wanted to add color to the moon. "I had to figure out a way to add color to the moon without ruining it", he remarked. If you look at his paintings, you will see the lunar landscape is not a monotonous gray, but shades of various colors. "If I were a scientist painting the moon, I would paint it gray. I'm an artist, so I can add colors to the moon", says Bean.

Alan Bean's paintings include "Lunar Grand Prix" and "Rock and Roll on the Ocean of Storms". He is the only artist in the world to use real moon dust on his paintings. When he began painting, he realized that keepsake patches from his space suit were dirty with moon dust. He adds tiny pieces of the patches to his paintings, which make them unique. He also uses the hammer used to pound the flagpole into the lunar surface to texture his paintings.

Personal life

He is married and has two grown children, a son and a daughter.

It is a point of pride to Bean that, on his Apollo 12 mission, he left the flag of his alma mater, R. L. Paschal High School, on the moon where it currently resides. He also took great pride in his Scottish roots and took a little piece of McBean tartan to the moon. The Scots people ( Scots Gaelic: Albannaich) are a Nation and an Ethnic group indigenous to Scotland. Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours ^[2] There is a swatch of this tartan on display in the Church of St Bean in Fowlis Wester which is a tranquil village in Perthshire, Scotland. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain.

Bean appeared at Central High School on November 19, 2007. Central High School is a public Secondary school in the Olney section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. He spoke to the freshman class and helped to present a new type of electron microscope created by FEI Industries, which also had a presence at the event. An electron microscope is a type of Microscope that uses Electrons to illuminate a specimen and create an enlarged image Bean also appeared at Carleton Community High School in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England where he did a presentation about the Apollo 12 mission for some of the students, parents and the mayor of Wakefield. Pontefract is a Market town in West Yorkshire, England near the A1 (or Great North Road the M62 motorway, and Castleford. West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Wakefield lies at the heart of the City of Wakefield, a Metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. He also had an interview with the school's BTEC Media Group. The Business & Technician Education Council (BTEC was a subdegree-conferring council in the United Kingdom until 1996 when its functions were transferred to Edexcel

Popular culture

• Rock band Hefner have a song called "Alan Bean", featuring the lyrics "Everyone will forget soon, The fourth man on the moon, But I've got it in my mind. " Alan Bean " is a single by British Indie rock band Hefner. " Bean appeared by telephone on a recording of a Dutch radio show on the VPRO broadcasting organisation when the band was performing in Amsterdam and talked with them shortly after its release. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The VPRO (originally an acronym for Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep, or "Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcasting Company" was established in the Netherlands Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west [1]
• British band Lemon Jelly features the voice of Alan Bean (describing the sunrise, as seen during a spacewalk) in their song "Spacewalk" from the album Lost Horizons. Lemon Jelly are a British Electronica duo consisting of Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin Lost Horizons is the second album release (and the first studio proper since previous album Lemonjelly
• Swedish singer-songwriter Stina Nordenstam has a song called "The return of Alan Bean" on her 1991 debut album Memories of a Colour. Stina Nordenstam ( Kristina Marianne Nordenstam) born March 4, 1969 in Stockholm, Sweden is a experimental Pop Memories Of A Colour is the debut album by Swedish singer-songwriter Stina Nordenstam, released in 1991 (its title is written using both "colour"
• Bean was on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on August 21 2007. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is an American late-night Talk show hosted by Scottish - American comedian Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan.
• Alan Bean is is one of the astronauts profiled in the documentary In the Shadow of the Moon. In the Shadow of the Moon is a 2006 British Documentary film about the United States ' manned missions to the Moon.
• An entire episode of the miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon was narrated from Bean's perspective; in this episode, he was portrayed by Dave Foley. From the Earth to the Moon is a twelve-part HBO Television Miniseries (1998 co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, David Scott Foley (born January 4, 1963, in Etobicoke Ontario) is a Canadian actor best known for his work in The Kids in the

External links

• Alan Bean Online Gallery - An authorized gallery of all his paintings
• Alan Bean Astronaut Bio - NASA's biography of Bean

References

Jones, Eric (1995). TV Troubles. Retrieved on 2007-07-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar. 1054 - Three Roman legates fractured relations between the Western and