Dick Gordon | |
|---|---|
 Gordon in 1964 | |
| Born | Richard Francis Gordon Jr. (1929-10-05)October 5, 1929 Seattle,Washington, U.S. |
| Died | November 6, 2017(2017-11-06) (aged 88) San Marcos, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Education | University of Washington (BS) Naval Postgraduate School |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 6 |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross (2) Distinguished Service Medal NASA Distinguished Service Medal NASA Exceptional Service Medal |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Captain,USN |
Time in space | 13d 3h 53m |
| Selection | NASA Group 3 (1963) |
TotalEVAs | 2 |
Total EVA time | 2h 41m |
| Missions | Gemini 11 Apollo 12 |
Mission insignia |   |
| Retirement | January 1, 1972 |
Richard Francis "Dick"Gordon Jr. (October 5, 1929 – November 6, 2017) was an Americannaval officer andaviator,test pilot, andNASAastronaut, and afootball executive. He was one of24 people to have flown to the Moon, as command module pilot of theApollo 12 mission, which orbited the Moon 45 times.[1] Gordon had already flown in space as the pilot of the 1966Gemini 11 mission.
Gordon was born inSeattle, Washington, on October 5, 1929, the first of five children of Richard Francis Gordon Sr. (1905–1963), a machinist, and his wife, Angela Frances Gordon (née Sullivan; 1903–1985), an elementary school teacher.[2] He was aBoy Scout, and earned the rank ofStar Scout.[3] He graduated fromNorth Kitsap High School inPoulsbo, Washington, in 1947, then entered theUniversity of Washington, from where he received aBachelor of Science degree inchemistry in 1951 and he was also a member ofPhi Sigma Kappa.[4]
After graduating from college, Gordon joined theUnited States Navy and received hiswings as aNaval Aviator in 1953. He then attended All-Weather Flight School andjet transitional training, and was subsequently assigned to an all-weatherfighter squadron atNaval Air Station Jacksonville,Florida.[4]
In 1957, he attended theUnited States Naval Test Pilot School atNaval Air Station Patuxent River,Maryland, and served as a flighttest pilot until 1960. During this tour of duty, he did flight test work on theF-8U Crusader,F-11F Tiger,North American FJ Fury, andA-4D Skyhawk, and was the first project test pilot for theF4H-1 Phantom II. He served with Fighter Squadron 121 (VF-121) at theNaval Air Station Miramar,California, as aflight instructor in the F4H-1 and participated in the introduction of that aircraft to theAtlantic andPacific Fleets. He was also flight safety officer, assistant operations officer, and ground training officer for Fighter Squadron 96 (VF-96) at Miramar. He logged more than 4,500 hours of flying time with 3,500 hours of those hours injet aircraft. He was also a student at the U.S.Naval Postgraduate School atMonterey, California.[4]
He won theBendix Trophy race fromLos Angeles toNew York City in May 1961, flying an F4H-1 in which he established a new speed record of 869.74 miles per hour and a transcontinental speed record of 2 hours and 47 minutes.[4][5]
Gordon was one of thethird group of astronauts, named by NASA in October 1963, being the oldest astronaut in his selection. He had been a finalist for thesecond selection, in 1962.[4]
Gordon served as backup pilot for theGemini 8 flight. In September 1966, he made his first space flight, as pilot ofGemini 11, alongsidePete Conrad. At the time, the flight set an altitude record of 1,369 kilometres (851 miles), which still stands as the highest-apogee Earth orbit.[6][7] Gordon was already good friends with Conrad, who had once been his roommate on theaircraft carrierUSS Ranger. On the flight, Gordon performed twospacewalks, which included attaching a tether to theAgena and retrieving a nuclear emulsion experiment package.[4]
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Gordon was assigned as the backup command module pilot forApollo 9. In November 1969, he flew as command module pilot ofApollo 12, the second crewed mission to land on the Moon. While his crewmates,Pete Conrad andAlan Bean, landed in theOcean of Storms, Gordon remained in lunar orbit aboard the command moduleYankee Clipper, photographing tentative landing sites for future missions.[4]
AfterApollo 12, Gordon served as the backup commander ofApollo 15. He was slated to walk on the Moon as commander ofApollo 18, but the mission was canceled because of budget cuts.[8]
Gordon logged a total of 315 hours and 53 minutes in space, of which 2 hours and 41 minutes were spent in EVA.[4]
After his flights, Gordon worked in the astronaut office. He became the chief of advanced programs in 1971. Gordon worked on the design of theSpace Shuttle.[9]
He retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy in January 1972.[4]
After leaving NASA, Gordon served asexecutive vice president of theNew Orleans Saints Professional Football Club in theNational Football League (1972–1976);[2] wasgeneral manager of Energy Developers, Limited (EDL), aTexas partnership involved in ajoint venture withRocket Research Corporation for the development of a liquid chemicalexplosive for use in theoil andgas industry (1977);president of Resolution Engineering and Development Company (REDCO), which provided design and operational requirements for wildoil well control and fire fighting equipment on board large semisubmersible utility vessels (1978); following REDCO merger with Amarco Resources, Gordon assumed the additional duties of vice president of marketing, Westdale, an oil well servicing subsidiary of AMARCO operating in North Central Texas andOklahoma, and also served as vice president for operations, Texas Division (1980); served as director, Scott Science and Technology, Inc., Los Angeles Division (1981–1983).[4]
In March 1982 he becamepresident of Astro Sciences Corporation. This company provides a range of services includingengineering,project management, project field support teams, tosoftware and hardware system design for control room applications. In the summer of 1984, Gordon was atechnical advisor for and played the part of "Capcom" in theCBSminiseriesSpace byJames A. Michener.[4]
Gordon served aschairman and co-chairman of the Louisiana Heart Fund, chairman of theMarch of Dimes (Mother's March), honorary chairman forMuscular Dystrophy, and on theboards of directors for the Boy Scouts of America and Boys' Club of Greater New Orleans.[4]
From his marriage (which ended in divorce) to his first wife Barbara Field, who died in 2014, Gordon had six children.[2][10] He died inSan Marcos, California, on November 6, 2017, at the age of 88.[2][7][11] His hobbies includedwater skiing andgolf.[4] He was buried atArlington National Cemetery.[12]
Gordon was afellow of theAmerican Astronautical Society, an associate fellow ofSociety of Experimental Test Pilots, a member of theNavy League, and a member ofPhi Sigma Kappa.[4]
Gordon was inducted into theInternational Space Hall of Fame with nine of his Gemini astronaut colleagues in 1982.[15] He was inducted into theUnited States Astronaut Hall of Fame on March 19, 1993.[16][17] In 2020, Gordon was inducted into theNational Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.[18]
In the 1998HBOminiseriesFrom the Earth to the Moon Gordon was played byTom Verica.[19]
Gordon wrote the foreword for astronautAl Worden's 2011 book,Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon,[20] as well as the foreword to the 2010 bookFootprints in the Dust: The Epic Voyages of Apollo, 1969–1975, edited byColin Burgess.[21]
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