Edgar Mitchell became the sixth man to walk on the moon when Apollo 14 touched down on the lunar surface on Feb. 5, 1971. The NASA astronaut passed away on Feb. 4, 2016, just one day before the 45th anniversary of his historic mission.
Accompanying Mitchell during his two moon walks was the first American in space, Alan Shepard.
"Suddenly, from behind the rim of the moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth ... home," said Edgar Mitchell, quoted by NASA administrator Charles Bolden.
The Apollo 14 crew were the first to ever transmit full-color television images from the surface of the moon. They also broke previous records for the greatest distances traversed on the lunar surface, as well as the greatest time spent on our planetary companion - 33 hours. They returned to our home planet carrying 94 pounds of moon rocks, which were analyzed by 187 scientific teams around the world.
Apollo 14 was the only time Mitchell ventured into space. His lunar module, named Antares, set down in the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon.
In addition to his trip to the moon, Mitchell is also known for several other accomplishments for the American space program. He was a member of the support crew for Apollo 9, and was the scheduled backup pilot for Apollo 10. When the astronauts on Apollo 13 ran into trouble following a mid-flight explosion, Mitchell assisted in devising ways to bring the threatened crew safely back to Earth. He later co-founded the Association of Space Explorers, a group of space travelers from around the world, in an effort to better understand how the experience affects human beings.
The space traveler, who was drawn to the idea of space travel by John F. Kennedy's famous speech outlining the program, passed away in West Palm Beach, Florida.
"After Kennedy announced the moon program, that's what I wanted, because it was the bear going over the mountain to see what he could see, and what could you learn, and I've been devoted to that, to exploration, education, and discovery since my earliest years, and that's what kept me going," Mitchell said.
