Harrison Schmitt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Harrison Schmitt
|
|
|---|---|
Schmitt in 1971
|
|
| United States Senator from New Mexico |
|
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1983 |
|
| Preceded by | Joseph Montoya |
| Succeeded by | Jeff Bingaman |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Harrison Hagan Schmitt
July 3, 1935 Santa Rita, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Teresa Fitzgibbon |
| Education | |
| Awards | NASA Distinguished Service Medal G. K. Gilbert Award (1989) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
|
Time in space
|
12d 13h 52m |
| Selection | NASA Group 4 (1965) |
|
Total EVAs
|
3 on the lunar surface |
|
Total EVA time
|
22h 3m |
| Missions | Apollo 17 |
|
Mission insignia
|
 |
| Retirement | August 30, 1975 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geology |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Petrology and Structure of the Eiksundsdal Eclogite Complex, Hareidland, Sunnmøre, Norway (1964) |
Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, a former NASA astronaut, and a former U.S. senator from New Mexico. He is the most recent person still alive who has walked on the Moon. He is also the only person without a military flying background to have walked on the Moon.
In December 1972, Schmitt was part of the crew on Apollo 17. He became the first member of NASA's first group of scientist-astronauts to fly into space. Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission. This made him the twelfth person to walk on the Moon. He was also the second-youngest person to do so. Schmitt was the second-to-last person to step off the Moon. He got back into the Lunar Module just before commander Eugene Cernan. Schmitt is still the only professional scientist to have traveled beyond low Earth orbit and visited the Moon. He helped train other Apollo astronauts who were chosen to visit the Moon.
Schmitt left NASA in August 1975. He decided to run for election to the United States Senate. He ran as a Republican candidate for New Mexico. In the 1976 election, he won against the Democratic senator, Joseph Montoya. In the 1982 election, Schmitt lost to Democrat Jeff Bingaman.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Harrison Schmitt was born on July 3, 1935, in Santa Rita, New Mexico. He grew up in nearby Silver City. He graduated from Western High School in 1953.
He earned a B.S. degree in geology from the California Institute of Technology in 1957. After that, he studied geology for a year at the University of Oslo in Norway. He did this as a Fulbright Scholar. In 1964, he received a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard University. His Ph.D. was based on his studies of geology in Norway.
NASA Career and Moon Landing
Before joining NASA in June 1965, Schmitt worked at the U.S. Geological Survey. He helped develop ways for Apollo crews to study geology on the Moon. After joining NASA, he spent a year learning to be a jet pilot.
When he returned to the astronaut team, he helped train Apollo crews. He taught them how to observe geology from lunar orbit. He also taught them how to work as geologists on the Moon's surface. After each Moon landing, he helped examine the Moon rocks brought back. He also helped the crews write their mission reports.
Schmitt learned a lot about the CSM and LM systems. In March 1970, he became the first scientist-astronaut chosen for a space flight. He joined Richard F. Gordon Jr. and Vance Brand on the backup crew for Apollo 15. This meant they were next in line for Apollo 18. However, Apollo 18 and Apollo 19 were canceled in September 1970.
Geologists who supported the Apollo program strongly wanted a professional geologist to land on the Moon. They convinced NASA to assign Schmitt to a remaining flight. In August 1971, Schmitt was assigned to fly on Apollo 17. He replaced Joe Engle as the Lunar Module Pilot. Schmitt landed on the Moon with commander Gene Cernan in December 1972.
Schmitt says he took the famous picture of Earth called The Blue Marble. This is one of the most famous photographs ever taken.
While on the Moon, Schmitt collected a rock sample called Troctolite 76535. This rock is considered "without doubt the most interesting sample returned from the Moon." It is a key piece of evidence that the Moon once had an active magnetic field.
Schmitt returned to the Lunar Module before Cernan. This means he was the next-to-last person to walk on the Moon. Since Cernan's death in 2017, Schmitt is the most recent person to have walked on the Moon who is still alive. After the Apollo 17 mission, Schmitt helped document the geology findings from Apollo. He also helped organize NASA's Energy Program Office.
On April 29, 2018, a device named the Schmitt Space Communicator SC-1x was carried on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. This project was partly funded by NASA. It launched the first commercial two-way data and Wi-Fi hotspot service in space. It also sent the first commercial Twitter message from space. The device was later added to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
-
Schmitt poses by the American flag, with Earth in the background, during Apollo 17's first EVA.
-
Schmitt collects lunar specimens during the Apollo 17 mission.
-
The Blue Marble, an iconic photograph of Earth, is credited to the three crewmen of Apollo 17
.jpg)
Senate Career
.jpg)
On August 30, 1975, Schmitt left NASA. He decided to run for the United States Senate as a Republican for New Mexico. His campaign focused on the future. In the Republican primary election, he won against Eugene Peirce. In the main election, Schmitt ran against Joseph Montoya, who had been a senator for two terms. Schmitt won with 57% of the votes, while Montoya got 42%.
Schmitt served one term as a senator. He was the chairman of the Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee. This subcommittee was part of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce. He ran for a second term in 1982. He faced state Attorney General Jeff Bingaman. Bingaman said that Schmitt did not pay enough attention to local issues. Bingaman's campaign slogan asked, "What on Earth has he done for you lately?" This, along with a difficult economy, led to Schmitt's defeat. He lost with 46% of the votes, while Bingaman won with 54%.
After the Senate
After his time in the Senate, Schmitt became a consultant. He advised on business, geology, space, and public policy. He is also a professor of engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has long supported using resources from the Moon. In 1997, he suggested the Interlune InterMars Initiative. One of its goals was to encourage private companies to get and use resources from the Moon. This included helium-3, which could be used as fuel for future nuclear fusion reactors.
.jpg)
Schmitt was the chairman of the NASA Advisory Council. This group gives technical advice to the head of NASA. He held this role from November 2005 until he resigned in October 2008.
He also works as a senior research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition.
In January 2011, he was named secretary of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. This was part of Governor Susana Martinez's team. However, he had to give up the job the next month. This was because he refused to complete a required background check. The El Paso Times newspaper called him the "most celebrated" candidate for the job.
Schmitt wrote a book in 2006 called Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space. He is also involved in several community projects. One of these is improving the Senator Harrison H. Schmitt Big Sky Hang Glider Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Awards and Honors
- NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1973)
- He became an honorary fellow of the Geological Society of America in 1984. This was for his work in geoscience.
- 1989 Recipient of the G. K. Gilbert Award
- One of the elementary schools in Schmitt's hometown of Silver City, New Mexico, was named after him in the mid-1970s. An image of the astronaut riding a rocket is on the front of Harrison Schmitt Elementary School.
- The AAPG's Special Award was changed to the Harrison Schmitt Award in 2011. This award recognizes people or groups who do not fit other honors. Schmitt received the award in 1973. This was for being the first geologist to land on the Moon and study its geology.
- 2015 Recipient of the Leif Erikson Exploration Award. This award was given by The Exploration Museum. It recognized his scientific work on the Moon in 1972. It also honored his role in training other astronauts who walked on the Moon.
Schmitt was one of five people inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1977. He was also one of 24 Apollo astronauts inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.
Media
Schmitt is one of the astronauts in the 2007 documentary In the Shadow of the Moon. He also helped write the 2006 book NASA's Scientist-Astronauts. This book was written by David Shayler and Colin Burgess.
See also
In Spanish: Harrison Schmitt para niños
- The Astronaut Monument
- Astronaut–politician
