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Who is the 2nd person to walk on the moon ? We would general never think or even get this question. As most of us would generally know about the first person to land on moon was Neil Armstrong as we are often asked only about the first of everything in the general knowledge quizzes and/or competitions and as a result we generally stop our knowledge at that.
We should be encouraged to know and understand the full length, breadth, and depth of any topic as it would help us in many ways in the later part of life personally and professionally. Knowing the first or last of something would constraint our learning. It is like reading the headlines and expecting to know the complete news.
In an effort to encourage all to try to understand more about anything and everything and not just be content with little information on the topic, we have started this website as medium by sharing information on ‘Who is the second…’ or ‘which is the second…’ of some of the popular or important questions.
2nd Person to walk on the Moon – Buzz Aldrin
| Full Name | Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr (2nd Person to walk on the Moon) |
| Born | Jan 20, 1930 (Alive as of October 26, 2023) |
| Place of Birth | Glen Ridge, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | July 16, 1969 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 11 (8 days 3 hours 18 minutes, 35 seconds |
| Age at the time of launch | 39 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
He was a Mechanical Engineering.
His fellow astronauts call him “Dr. Rendezvous”.
He landed on moon after 19 mins Armstrong set foot on moon.
His autobiographies Return to Earth (1973), and Magnificent Desolation (2009).
Most of the real pictures we see of an astronaut on the moon are of Buzz Aldrin, 2nd person to walk on the moon. There are only 2 pictures which was of Neil Armstrong, 1st person on moon.
When deciding which aircraft to choose for flying, His father suggested to go for Bombers however Buzz decided to choose Fighter Jet, which may have helped him join NASA.He was rejected by NASA on 1st attempt however he was selected on the 2nd attempt due to change in Criteria which requires 1000 hours of flying. Buzz had 2500+ hours.
List: Who are the 12 astronauts who walked on the moon ?
| S No | Name of Astronauts | Mission | Launch and Landing dates | Duration |
| 1 | Neil Armstrong | Apollo 11 | July 16, 1969 and July 24, 1969 | 8 days 3 hours 18 minutes, 35 seconds |
| 2 | Buzz Aldrin | Apollo 11 | July 16, 1969 and July 24, 1969 | 8 days 3 hours 18 minutes, 35 seconds |
| 3 | Pete Conrad | Apollo 12 | November 14, 1969 and November 24, 1969 | 10 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes, 24 seconds |
| 4 | Alan Bean | Apollo 12 | November 14, 1969 and November 24, 1969 | 10 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes, 24 seconds |
| 5 | Alan Shepard | Apollo 14 | January 31, 1971 and February 9, 1971 | 9 days, 1 minute, 58 seconds |
| 6 | Edgar Mitchell | Apollo 14 | January 31, 1971 and February 9, 1971 | 9 days, 1 minute, 58 seconds |
| 7 | David Scott | Apollo 15 | July 26, 1971 and August 7, 1971 | 12 days, 7 hours, 11 minutes, 53 seconds |
| 8 | James Irwin | Apollo 15 | July 26, 1971 and August 7, 1971 | 12 days, 7 hours, 11 minutes, 53 seconds |
| 9 | John Young | Apollo 16 | April 16, 1972 and April 27, 1972 | 11 days, 1 hour, 51 minutes, 5 seconds |
| 10 | Charles Duke | Apollo 16 | April 16, 1972 and April 27, 1972 | 11 days, 1 hour, 51 minutes, 5 seconds |
| 11 | Gene Cernan | Apollo 17 | December 7, 1972 and December 19, 1972 | 12 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes, 59 seconds |
| 12 | Harrison Schmitt | Apollo 17 | December 7, 1972 and December 19, 1972 | 12 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes, 59 seconds |
Info-graphic: Timeline of all the astronauts who walked on moon
1st Person on Moon – Neil Armstrong
| Full Name | Neil Alden Armstrong |
| Born | Aug 05, 1930 (Died: Aug 25, 2012 – Aged 82) |
| Place of Birth | Wapakoneta, Ohio, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | July 16, 1969 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 11 (8 days 3 hours 18 minutes, 35 seconds |
| Age at the time of launch | 38 years old |
Quick, interesting, and Important facts –
Armstrong had BSc degree in Aeronautical Engineering, MSc degree in Aerospace Engineering and an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering.
He flew 78 combat missions during the Korean War which broke out in 1950. At the time he was still in the middle of Aeronautical Engineering degree. His plane was shot down once in one of those 78 missions. He was awarded 3 Air medals.
The famous quote: “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” was spoken by him when he set his foot on the moon.
For some reason the “a” in the famous quote was never recorded on the audios. However, Armstrong prefers written quotations to include the “a” in parentheses.
When Neil Armstrong visited 2000 years old King Herod’s Temple Mount in city of Jerusalem, he said it is more exciting to step on the stone steps where Jesus walked than even to step on the Moon.
To land safely, Armstrong had to fly Apollo Lunar Module, called Eagle, manually due to problems with computer. Fortunately, They landed with only 25 seconds of fuel left.
3rd Person on Moon – Pete Conrad
| Full Name | Charles Conrad Jr |
| Born | June 02, 1930 (Died: Jul 08, 1999 – Aged 69) |
| Place of Birth | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | Nov 14, 1969 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 12 (10 days 4 hours 36 minutes, 24 seconds |
| Age at the time of launch | 39 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
Pete Conrad had a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Princeton University.
He was the Commander in charge of the Apollo 12 mission.
Initial request by Pete to assign Alan Bean (who was the 4th person to land on moon), a student of his, as Lunar Module Pilot was rejected. However, after the death of original Lunar Module Pilot Clifton Williams in the plane crash, Alan Bean was assigned on request by Pete the second time.
Even after having dyslexia, Conrad earned his bachelor’s degree, became a NASA astronaut, Naval Officer & Aviator, and last but definitely not the least became the 3rd person to walk on moon. He died due to internal injuries sustained in the motorcycle accident. Imagine, he survived
4th Person on Moon – Alan Bean
| Full Name | Alan LaVern Bean |
| Born | Mar 15, 1932 (Died: May 26, 2018 – Aged 86) |
| Place of Birth | Wheeler, Texas, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | Nov 14, 1969 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 12 (10 days 4 hours 36 minutes, 24 seconds |
| Age at the time of launch | 37 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
Alan Bean had a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas.
After retirement, he pursued his interest in painting.
Pete Conrad (Who was the 3rd person to land on the moon) was his instructor at the Naval Test pilot school. Alan Bean must be good at the training to get recommended by Pete Conrad to accompany him as Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 12 moon landing mission.
He planned to take a good picture of Pete and himself together on the moon using the timer. However, it could not be taken as they could not find the timer. When he did find it, he threw it away as far as possible as it was too late. His paintings ‘The Fabulous Photo We Never Too’ and ‘Our Little Secret’: Fruitless search for the timer try to depict the scenario.
5th Person on Moon – Alan Shepard
| Full Name | Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. |
| Born | Nov 18, 1923 (Died: Jul 21, 1998 – Aged 74) |
| Place of Birth | Derry, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | Jan 31, 1971 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 14 (9 days, 1 minute, 58 seconds) |
| Age at the time of launch | 47 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
He was the second person, and the first American, to travel into space. Also, he was the oldest person to land on the moon at the age of 47 years old.
He seems to have played golf on the moon by hitting 2 golf balls on the lunar surface.
He was promoted to rear admiral, making him the first astronaut to reach that rank.
He was one of many famous descendants of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.
He was allowed to skip the sixth and eighth grade due to impressive academic record in the earlier grades.
He was so interested in flying that he created a model airplane club at the academy. He even got a flight ticket, in 1938, as a Christmas present. He was so much interested to know and learn about flying that he would do odd jobs at the Manchester Airfield to get the occasional ride in an airplane or informal flying lessons.
6th Person on Moon – Edgar Mitchell
| Full Name | Edgar Dean Mitchell |
| Born | Sept 17, 1930 (Died: Feb 04, 2016 – Aged 85) |
| Place of Birth | Hereford, Texas, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | Jan 31, 1971 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 14 (9 days, 1 minute, 58 seconds) |
| Age at the time of launch | 40 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
He had Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from Carnegie Institute of Technology, Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics Engineering, and doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He first learned to fly at age of 13 and received his private pilot license at the age of 16.
Mitchell on the overview effect after seeing the Earth from the Moon – You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch.”
7th Person on Moon – David Scott
| Full Name | David Randolph Scott |
| Born | Jun 06, 1932 (Alive as on 19 Feb 2024 – Aged 91) |
| Place of Birth | San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | July 26, 1971 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 15 (12 days, 7 hours, 11 minutes, 53 seconds) |
| Age at the time of launch | 39 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
Scott and James Irwin spent 3 days on the Moon.
His father was Tom William Scott (1902–1988), a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Corps who would rise to the rank of brigadier general.
The crew of Apollo 15—David Scott, Alfred Worden, and James Irwin—agreed to take payments for carrying the covers; though they returned the money, they were reprimanded by NASA. Amid much press coverage of the incident, the astronauts were called before a closed session of a Senate committee and never flew in space again.
The first crew to land on the Moon and not be quarantined on return.
Using a hammer and a feather, Scott validates Galileo’s theory that objects in a vacuum will fall at the same rate.
8th Person on Moon – James Irwin
| Full Name | James Benson Irwin |
| Born | Mar 17, 1930 (Died: Aug 08, 1991 – Aged 61) |
| Place of Birth | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | July 26, 1971 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 15 (12 days, 7 hours, 11 minutes, 53 seconds) |
| Age at the time of launch | 41 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
He had a Bachelor of Science degree in naval science from the United States Naval Academy in 1951, and Master of Science degrees in aeronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1957.
Interestingly, at about the age of 12, he informed his mother about his desire to go to the Moon; letting her know that he might be the first person to do so (he ended up being the eighth).
A student pilot that Irwin was training crashed the plane on a training mission. No casualty however Irwin suffered compound fractures, amnesia, and would have lost a leg to amputation had not been saved by a brilliant US Air force orthopaedic surgeon.
Surgeons back on Earth found irregularities in Irwin’s heart rhythms around the time of the moon. Scott and Irwin had been working with no sleep for 23 hours straight. If he were earth, surgeons would have him in ICU treating him for a heart attack.
Irwin said that the experiences in space made God more real to him than before.
He was the first to die of all the 12 men who walked on the moon. He passed away later on the day due the third heart attack after a bike ride.
9th Person on Moon – John Young
| Full Name | John Watts Young |
| Born | Sept 24, 1930 (Died: Jan 05, 2018 – Aged 87) |
| Place of Birth | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | April 16, 1972 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 16 (11 days, 1 hour, 51 minutes, 5 seconds) |
| Age at the time of launch | 41 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
He had a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
10th Person on Moon – Charles Duke
| Full Name | Charles Moss Duke Jr. |
| Born | Oct 03, 1935 (Alive as on 19 Feb 2024 – Aged 88) |
| Place of Birth | Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | April 16, 1972 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 16 (11 days, 1 hour, 51 minutes, 5 seconds) |
| Age at the time of launch | 36 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
He was the youngest (36 years old) at the time of landing on the moon among the 12 men who walked on the moon.
He was named ‘Texan of the Year in 2020’ and He is a popular motivational speaker.
He had identical twin brother Bill Duke who was born 6 minutes later. As a boy, Charles and his twin brother Bill made model aircraft.
He left 2 items on the surface of the moon –
- Family photo encased in plastic cover. It was signed by and had thumb prints of his family. Also the photo has a message that says “This is the family of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth, who landed on the Moon on the twentieth of April 1972”.
- A commemorative medal by the Air force, celebrating its 25th anniversary in 1972. One medal was left on the moon and another was donated to the Air force.
11th Person on Moon – Gene Cernan
| Full Name | Eugene Andrew Cernan |
| Born | Mar 14, 1934 (Died: Jan 16, 2017 – Aged 82) |
| Place of Birth | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | December 7, 1972 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 17 (12 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes, 59 seconds) |
| Age at the time of launch | 38 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
He had Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval School.
He remains the most recent person to walk on the moon.
12th Person on Moon – Harrison Schmitt
| Full Name | Harrison Hagan Schmitt |
| Born | Jul 03, 1935 (Alive as on 19 Feb 2024 – Aged 88) |
| Place of Birth | Santa Rita, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Moon Mission Launch | December 7, 1972 |
| Mission (Duration) | Apollo 17 (12 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes, 59 seconds) |
| Age at the time of launch | 37 years old |
Quick, interesting, and important facts –
Harrison is a geologist and is the only person without a background in military aviation.
As Harrison Schmitt was the geologist by profession, he was involved in the examination and evaluation of the samples brought by the astronaut of the Apollo moon landing missions.
Harrison Schmitt was initially assigned to Apollo 18. Once the Apollo 18 and 19 missions were canceled, Luckily for him, He replaced Joe Engle as Lunar Module Pilot due to the support of the lunar geologist community feeling the need of a professional geologist on the last manned moon landing mission.