Wolfhounds Astronaut David R Scott

David R. Scott was assigned to the 32nd Tactical Fighter squadron at Soesterberg Air Base from April 1956 to July 1960. On November 11 1956 flying a F-100 Super Sabre (54-1965) he attempting to land a malfunctioning fighter and crashed his aircraft at Soesterberg AB, He stayed unhurt.

In 1963 he was selected as an astronaut by NASA. He flew on Gemini 8, was Command Module pilot on Apollo 9 and walked and drove the first Lunar Rover on the moon as commander of Apollo 15. Scott was the first of the group three astronauts to be selected to fly and was also the first to command a mission of his own. He was born June 6, 1932, in San Antonio, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy in 1954, standing fifth in a class of 633, and the degrees of Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineer in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1962. He entered the Air Force and graduated from the Experimental Test Pilot School and Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base.

On March 16, 1966, he and command pilot Neil Armstrong were launched into space on the Gemini 8 mission, a flight originally scheduled to last three days but terminated early due to a malfunctioning thruster. The crew performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space and demonstrated great piloting skill in overcoming the thruster problem and bringing the spacecraft to a safe landing.

Scott served as command module pilot for Apollo 9, (March 3 - 13 March 1969). This was the third manned flight in the Apollo series, the second to be launched by a Saturn V, and the first to complete a comprehensive earth-orbital qualification and verification test of a "fully configured Apollo spacecraft." The ten-day flight provided vital information previously not available on the operational performance, stability, and reliability of lunar module propulsion and life support systems. Highlight of this evaluation was completion of a critical lunar-orbit rendezvous simulation and subsequent docking, initiated by James McDivitt and Russell Schweickart from within the lunar module at a separation distance which exceeded 100 miles (160 km) from the command/service module piloted by Scott. The crew also demonstrated and confirmed the operational feasibility of crew transfer and extravehicular activity techniques and equipment, with Schweickart completing a 46-minute EVA outside the lunar module. During this period, Dave Scott completed a 1-hour stand-up EVA in the open command module hatch photographing Schweickart's activities and also retrieving thermal samples from the command module exterior. Apollo 9 splashed down less than four nautical miles (7 km) from the helicopter carrier USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7).

In his next assignment, Scott was designated backup spacecraft commander for Apollo 12. He made his third space flight as spacecraft commander of Apollo 15 (July 26 - August 7, 1971). His companions on the flight were Alfred M. Worden (command module pilot) and James B. Irwin (lunar module pilot). Apollo 15 was the fourth manned lunar landing mission and the first to visit and explore the moon's Hadley Rille and Apennine Mountains which are located on the southeast edge of the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). The lunar module, "Falcon," remained on the lunar surface for 66 hours and 54 minutes (setting a new record for lunar surface stay time) and Scott and Irwin logged 18 hours and 35 minutes each in extravehicular activities conducted during three separate excursions onto the lunar surface. Using "Rover-1" to transport themselves and their equipment along portions of Hadley Rille and the Apennine Mountains, Scott and Irwin performed a selenological inspection and survey of the area and collected 180 pounds (82 kg) of lunar surface materials. They deployed an ALSEP package which involved the emplacement and activation of surface experiments, and their lunar surface activities were televised using a TV camera which was operated remotely by ground controllers stationed in the mission control center located at Houston, Texas. Other Apollo 15 achievements include: largest payloads ever placed into earth and lunar orbits; first scientific instrument module bay flown and operated on an Apollo spacecraft; longest distance traversed on lunar surface; first use of a lunar surface navigation device (mounted on Rover-1); first subsatellite launched in lunar orbit; and first extravehicular (EVA) from a command module during transearth coast. The latter feat performed by Worden during three excursions to "Endeavour's" SIM-bay where he retrieved film cassettes from the panoramic and mapping cameras and reported his personal observations of the general condition of equipment housed there. Apollo 15 concluded with a Pacific Ocean splashdown and subsequent recovery by the USS Okinawa (LPH-3).

Following the moon flight, Scott held administrative posts with NASA, including director of the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards. He retired from the Air Force in March 1975 with the rank of Colonel and over 5600 hours of flying time. David Scott was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on March 19, 1993. And in 1994/1995, he served as the main technical consultant on the Ron Howard film, "Apollo 13" in 1997, served in the same capacity on the Tom Hanks/HBO series, "From the Earth to the Moon"; and in 2005, on the Tom Hanks/Imax film "Magnificent Desolation".

(Source NASA)