DAVID R. SCOTT
David R. Scott has held a very distinguished aviation career. A retired Air Force pilot, Scott also flew onboard 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 born in 1932 in San Antonio, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy and the degrees of Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineer in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He entered the Air Force and graduated from the Experimental Test Pilot School and Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Scott was then selected as an astronaut in 1963.

On March 16, 1966 Scott and Neil Armstrong climbed aboard Gemini 8. They conducted the first linkup in space, docking their Gemini 8 with an Agena target satellite. Shortly after the ships joined, the astronauts reported their craft was spinning out of control. After multiple maneuvers, Mission Control ordered Armstrong and Scott to cut the flight short and they splashed down in a contingency recovery area in the western Pacific.

Scott's second mission was aboard Apollo 9, which was a 10-day earth orbit flight. The mission was to complete the first test of a complete set of Apollo hardware, including the Lunar Module (which flew over 113 miles).

Scott's last mission was Apollo 15. This was the first of the "extended scientific" missions to the moon. Scott and James B. Irwin received the extraordinary opportunity of exploring the moon. This mission was the first to use the Lunar Rover. During three days they drove over moon terrain gathering 171 pounds of rocks, setting up a science station and taking photographs.

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 1975 as a Colonel. Scott currently is an accomplished businessman and resides in London, England.