Schweickart, Russell

Born Oct. 10, 1935, in Neptune, N.J. American astronaut; air force pilot (1956–63).

Schweickart received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956 and a master of science degree in aeronautics and astronautics in 1963. He conducted research on the atmosphere at the Experimental Astronomy Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1963 he became a member of the group of astronauts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Between Mar. 3 and Mar. 13, 1969, Schweickart, as the lunar module pilot, completed a spaceflight in the Apollo 9 spacecraft, together with J. A. McDivitt and D. R. Scott. During the test flight in earth orbit, which lasted 241 hr 01 min, the docking with the lunar module and its independent flight were performed and other systems of the spacecraft were tested; various studies were also carried out. During the flight, Schweickart undertook a space walk, which lasted 47 min.