![]() ![]() ![]() The National Memorial Day Parade also featured veteran and celebrity chef Robert Irvine, and award-winning actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise (Sinese portrayed astronaut Ken Mattingly in the 1995 feature film " Apollo 13"). In addition to commanding the Expedition 53 crew, Bresnik logged 32 hours conducting five spacewalks. As a NASA astronaut, Bresnik flew twice to the International Space Station first as a mission specialist on space shuttle Discovery in 2009 and then as a flight engineer on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. Naval Test Pilot School before flying combat missions in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was designated a naval aviator in 1992 and graduated from the U.S. (Image credit: The American Veterans Center)īresnik is a retired colonel in the U.S. From left to right: Apollo 16 moonwalker Charlie Duke, Apollo 17 geologist Harrison Schmitt and Apollo 9 lunar module pilot Rusty Schweickart. Three "Apollo Legends" served as the grand marshals for the 2023 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. Senate representing the state of New Mexico from 1977 to 1983. Schmitt did not serve in the military, though after his selection as an astronaut, he spent a year with the Air Force undergoing undergraduate pilot training. In addition to finding orange soil of volcanic origin on the moon, Schmitt helped set several records, including the greatest distance from a spacecraft during an extravehicular activity and the largest return of lunar samples to date. A professional geologist who first helped other astronauts become familiar with the rocks and soil types they would encounter on the moon, he touched down in the Taurus-Littrow valley with Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan in December 1972. ![]() Schmitt was the first scientist and last man (to date) to step off a lunar module onto the surface of the moon. Heidi Grant, President of Boeing Business Development/Defense, Space, Security & Global Services, is flanked by Apollo 17 geologist Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 16 moonwalker Charlie Duke, Apollo 9 lunar module pilot Rusty Schweickart and active NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik at the 2023 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. ![]() As a lieutenant colonel (later promoted to brigadier general), Duke left a medallion marking the 25th anniversary of the Air Force on the moon. After graduating from the Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1965, he stayed on as an instructor. Naval Academy, Duke joined the Air Force, serving at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and with the 526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany. The second crew to have use of the Apollo lunar roving vehicle or "moon buggy," Duke and Young conducted three excursions on the moon over the course of their 71 hours and 14 minutes on the surface.Ī graduate of the U.S. Air Force and Massachusetts Air National Guard (101st Tactical Fighter Squadron), logging more than 4,000 hours of flight time, including 3,500 hours in high performance jet aircraft.Īfter serving as capcom in Mission Control for the Apollo 11 landing, Duke became the 10th and youngest person (to date) to walk on the moon when he and Apollo 16 commander John Young landed in the Descartes Highlands in April 1972. In addition, Schweickart became the first Apollo astronaut to perform a spacewalk, testing the program's new spacesuit, including the portable life support system backpack that was used by later astronauts to explore the lunar surface.īefore becoming an astronaut, Schweickart served in the U.S. In March 1969, four months before the Apollo 11 crew became the first to walk on the moon, the Apollo 9 crew of Schweickart, commander Jim McDivitt and command module pilot David Scott tested the complete Apollo spacecraft - including the lunar module used to land on the moon - in Earth orbit. Marine Corps, speaks at the 2023 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. Former NASA astronaut and administrator Charlie Bolden, a retired major general in the U.S. ![]()
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