David R Scott

Born June 6, 1932, in San Antonio, Texas, American pilot and astronaut Colonel in the Air Force.

Scott graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1962). He subsequently attended the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School and the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School. In 1963 he joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as an astronaut.

As copilot, Scott completed a space flight aboard the Gemini 8 spacecraft on Mar. 16, 1966, with K Armstrong. The craft completed six and one-half orbits around the earth in 10 hr 32 min. The two astronauts were the first to carry out a manned docking in orbit with an Agena target rocket. Twenty minutes after docking, the target rocket and spacecraft began oscillating unexpectedly. As a result, Gemini 8 separated from the rocket and landed ahead of schedule.

From Mar. 3 to 13, 1969, together with J. McDivitt and R. Schweickart, Scott completed a space flight as command module pilot of the Apollo 10 spacecraft. The spacecraft completed 151 orbits around the earth in 241 hr 1 min, traveling 6.6 million km. During the flight, the lunar module systems were tested, and the module was separated from the spacecraft. The crew also carried out research.

From July 26 to Aug. 7, 1971, together with J. Irwin and A. Worden, Scott completed a flight to the moon as commander of the Apollo 15 spacecraft, On July 31 the lunar module, with Scott and Irwin aboard, landed on the moon in the vicinity of Hadley Rille and the Apennine Mountains, on the eastern edge of Mare Imbrium. Scott spent a total of 66 hr 55 min on the moon; the three periods of extravehicular activity lasted a total of 18 hr 37 min. The astronauts used a lunar rover while on the moon’s surface. In his three flights in space. Scott flew a total of 546 hr 32 min.