Charles "Pete" Conrad
1926 - 1999
1926 - 1999
Astronaut Pete Conrad, the third man to walk on the moon,
was killed in a motorcycle accident Thursday, July 8th, 1999
in Southern California. He was 69.
Conrad was selected as an astronaut by NASA in September
1962. In August 1965, he served as pilot on the 8-day
Gemini V flight. He and command pilot Gordon Cooper were
launched into Earth orbit on August 21, and proceeded to
establish a space endurance record of l90 hours and 56
minutes. The flight, which lasted 120 revolutions and
covered a total distance of 3,312,993 statute miles, was
terminated on August 29, 1965. It was also on this flight
that the United States took over the lead in man-hours in
space.
Conrad flew in space four times: on Gemini 5 and 11
in the mid-1960s, as commander of Apollo 12 in
November 1969, and as commander of NASA's Skylab
space station in 1973.
Conrad, 69, had been looking forward to becoming 77
years old. He expected NASA would send him back to space
as they did with Sen. John Glenn in 1998.
Pete Conrad is survived by his wife, Nancy,
three sons and seven grandchildren.
