Charles M. Duke
Apollo Astronaut, Fighter Pilot
Moon Walker

NAME: Charles Moss Duke, Jr. (Brigadier General, USAF, Ret.)
NASA Astronaut (former)

PERSONAL DATA: Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 3, 1935. Married to the former Dorothy Meade Clairborne of Atlanta, Georgia. They have two grown sons. Recreational interests include hunting, fishing, reading, and playing golf.

EDUCATION: Attended Lancaster High School in Lancaster, South Carolina, and was graduated valedictorian from the Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida; received a bachelor of science degree in Naval Sciences from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1957 and a master of science degree in Aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964; presented an honorary doctorate of philosophy from the University of South Carolina in 1973, and an honorary doctorate of Humanities from Francis Marion College in 1990.

ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the Air Force Association, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Reserve Officer Association, Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship, Christian Businessmen's Committee; National Space Society.

SPECIAL HONORS: Awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the JSC Certificate of Commendation (1970), the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and AF Legion of Merit, and Air Force Command Pilot Astronaut Wings, the SETP Iven C. Kincheloe Award of 1972, the AAS Flight Achievement Award for 1972, the AIAA Haley Astronautics Award for 1973, and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale V.M. Komarov Diploma in 1973; named South Carolina Man of the Year in 1973 and inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 1973; and presented the Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1975.

EXPERIENCE: When notified of his selection as an astronaut, Duke was at the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School as an instructor teaching control systems and flying in the F-101, F-104, and T-33 aircraft. He graduated from the Aerospace Research Pilot School in September 1965 and stayed on there as an instructor.

He is a retired Air Force Reserve Brigadier General and was commissioned in 1957 upon graduation from the Naval Academy. Upon entering the Air Force, he went to Spence Air Base, Georgia, for primary flight training and then to Webb Air Force Base, Texas, for basic flying training, where in 1958 he became a distinguished graduate. He was again a distinguished graduate at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, where he completed advanced training in F-86L aircraft. Upon completion of this training, he served three years as a fighter interceptor pilot with the 526th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germanypilot with the 526th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

He has logged 4,147 hours flying time, which includes 3,632 hours in jet aircraft.

Duke was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as member of the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 10 flight. He was CAPCOM for Apollo 11, the first landing on the Moon and he served as backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 13.

Duke served as lunar module pilot of Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972. He was accompanied on the fifth manned lunar landing mission by John W. Young (spacecraft commander) and Thomas K. Mattingly II (command module pilot). Apollo 16 was the first scientific expedition to inspect, survey, and sample materials and surface features in the Descartes region of the rugged lunar highlands. Duke and Young commenced their record setting lunar surface stay of 71 hours and 14 minutes by maneuvering the lunar module "Orion" to a landing on the rough Cayley Plains. In three subsequent excursions onto the lunar surface, they each logged 20 hours and 15 minutes in extravehicular activities involving the emplacement and activation of scientific equipment and experiments, the collection of nearly 213 pounds of rock and soil samples, and the evaluation and use of Rover-2 over the roughest and blockiest surface yet encountered on the moon.

Other Apollo 16 achievements included the largest payload placed in lunar orbit (76, 109 pounds); first cosmic ray detector deployed on lunar surface; first lunar observatory with the far UV camera; and longest in-flight EVA from a command module during transearth coast (1 hour and 13 minutes). The latter feat was accomplished by Mattingly when he ventured out to "Casper's" SIM-bay for the retrieval of vital film cassettes from the panoramic and mapping cameras. Apollo 16 concluded with a Pacific Ocean splashdown and subsequent recovery by the USS TICONDEROGA.

With the completion of his first space flight, Duke has logged 265 hours in space and over 21 hours of extra vehicular activity

Duke also served as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 17.

In December 1975, Duke retired from the Astronaut program to enter private business. He is owner of Duke Investments, and is President of Charlie Duke Enterprises. He is an active speaker and Christian lay witness and President of Duke Ministry For Christ.

Flight Log

• Apollo 13 - 11 April 1970 Assignment: Backup Crew. Flight details: Apollo 13. Summary: Manned three crew. Lunar landing mission aborted due to rupture of oxygen tank; went around Moon before successful reentry.
• Apollo 16 - 16 April 1972 Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight Time: 11.08 days. Flight details: Apollo 16. Summary: Landed on Moon 4/21/72; left ALSEP 16 science platform on lunar surface.
• EVA Apollo 16-1 - 21 April 1972 Assignment: EVA Crew. EVA Duration: 7.18 hours. Summary: Explored lunar surface near LM and deployed ALSEP unmanned scientific station equipment.
• EVA Apollo 16-2 - 22 April 1972 Assignment: EVA Crew. EVA Duration: 7.38 hours. Summary: Drove in lunar rover to Stone Mountain.
• EVA Apollo 16-3 - 23 April 1972 Assignment: EVA Crew. EVA Duration: 5.67 hours. Summary: Drove in lunar rover to North Ray crater.
• EVA Apollo 16-4 - 23 April 1972 Assignment: EVA Crew. EVA Duration: 0.03 hours. Summary: Threw excess equipment out of LM before lift-off.
• EVA Apollo 16-5 - 25 April 1972 Assignment: EVA Crew. EVA Duration: 1.22 hours. Summary: Deep space retrieval of film cartridges from Service Module.
• Apollo 17 - 07 December 1972 Assignment: Backup Crew. Flight details: Apollo 17. Summary: Landed on Moon 12/11/72; left ALSEP 17 science platform on lunar surface.

Apollo 16 blasted off from Kennedy Space Center at 12:54 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 16, 1972. Command module Casper and lunar module Orion arrived in lunar orbit three days later. All systems functioned well until Orion separated from the command module; a malfunctioning component in the main propulsion system caused Houston to delay the lunar module's descent for nearly six hours while it was checked out. When Mission Control was satisfied, Orion fired its descent engine and landed easily on the plain at Descartes at 9:33 p.m. EST on April 20.

In the next 71 hours mission commander John Young and lunar module pilot Charles Duke laid out the surface instruments and conducted three traverses in their lunar rover, covering in all some 27 kilometers (nearly 17 miles). While they were busy on the surface, Ken Mattingly in Casper was occupied with operating the instruments in the service module. The only serious mishap on the surface occurred when Young tripped over the cable to the heat-flow sensors, pulling it loose from the central station and incapacitating the experiment.

Young and Duke finished their exploration, loaded the 96 kilograms (210 pounds) of samples they had collected into Orion , and rejoined Mattingly in lunar orbit on April 23. They released the moon-orbiting subsatellite, but because of recurring problems with the service propulsion system, the spacecraft was not in the optimum orbit for the satellite. As a result, the satellite crashed into the moon after only five weeks. During the four-day return flight they conducted additional experiments with electrophoresis, a technique that offered advantages for separating certain biological preparations that could not be efficiently done in a gravity field. A normal landing in the Pacific, north of Christmas Island, completed the mission On April 27.