RIP Astronaut Alan Bean (Apollo 12) – The 4th Man on the Moon

You come to Fratello for everything Speedmaster (related). Well, this also includes sad news of course. Yesterday, on May 26th, Apollo 12 astronaut and 4th man to walk on the Moon, Alan Bean passed away.

Astronaut Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot for the Apollo 12 mission, is about to step off the ladder of the Lunar Module. (c) NASA

Alan Bean

Born in 1932 in Texas, Bean was selected by NASA in 1963. Initially for Gemini 10, but was placed into the Apollo Applications program instead. Together with astronauts Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon, Alan Bean was assigned Apollo 12.

Alan Bean, wearing his Speedmaster BA145.022. Image (c) AP

On November 14th, Apollo 12 was launched and flew 250.000 miles in order to land on the Moon. They landed on the Moon (“Ocean of Storms”) on November 19th. He and Pete Conrad explored the Moon for 7 hours and 45 minutes and brought back 34.35 kilograms of sample mass.

Then, in 1973, Bean was the spacecraft commander of Skylab 3. A 59-day mission in space, together with astronauts Owen Garriot and Jack R. Lousma.

Alan Bean resigned from NASA in 1981 and devoted his time to art. Making paintings inspired by Apollo missions. On the website www.alanbean.com, you will find a selection and description of his artworks.

This article in the Houston Chronicle is an interesting read on Alan Bean.

Godspeed, Alan Bean (March 15, 1932 – May 26, 2018).