Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr.

Pete Conrad joined the U.S. Navy in 1953 after graduating from Princeton University and trained as a test pilot and flight instructor. Selected as a member of the second group of NASA astronauts in 1962, Conrad flew on two Gemini missions and commanded Apollo 12, the second Moon landing. Launching to the Skylab space station in 1973, he and his two crewmates first made repairs to the orbiting workshop to prevent overheating before they could complete the experimental work planned for their Skylab 2 mission.

Quick Facts

As one of the best pilots in the astronaut corps, Pete Conrad flew on four space missions and became the third man to step onto the surface of the Moon with Apollo 12.

After arriving at the orbiting workshop on the delayed Skylab 2 mission, Conrad and his crew first had to deploy a specially designed parasol to cool the station and conduct a spacewalk to free a jammed solar array.

As commander for Gemini XI, Conrad and pilot Dick Gordon performed a docking maneuver with the Agena target vehicle similar to what the Apollo Command Module and Lunar Module would later be required to do during the Apollo missions.

Charles Conrad stands beside the US flag on the surface of the Moon during Apollo 12 — Astronaut Charles Conrad Jr., Apollo 12 commander, stands beside the United States flag after it was unfurled on the lunar surface during the first extravehicular activity (EVA), on Nov. 19, 1969. Several footprints made by the crewmembers can be seen in the photograph. While astronauts Conrad and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) “Intrepid” to explore the Ocean of Storms region of the moon, astronaut Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) “Yankee Clipper” in lunar orbit. (19 November 1969)
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Astronaut Charles Conrad Jr. inside the Gemini V spacecraft as it orbited Earth. Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper Jr. took this photograph.
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Pete Conrad and Gordon Cooper celebrate their successful Gemini 5 spaceflight on their recovery ship — Astronaut Charles Conrad Jr. tweaks astronaut L. Gordon Cooper’s eight-day growth of beard for the cameramen while onboard the prime recovery vessel after their Gemini V flight.
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Pete Conrad and Joe Kerwin repair Skylab during an EVA — This medium close-up view shows astronauts Charles Conrad, commander for Skylab 2, and Science Pilot Joseph P. Kerwin performing an extravehicular activity (EVA) to repair the damaged and partially deployed solar array system on the Skylab complex. The photo was taken from inside the Orbital Workshop (OWS) by astronaut Paul J. Weitz, pilot. (7 June 1973)
NASA

Biography

Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr.

Chosen as a member of the second group of NASA astronauts in 1962, Pete Conrad flew four missions for the Gemini, Skylab, and Apollo programs and spent more than 1,200 hours in space.

Pete Conrad was well known among his fellow astronauts for his fun-loving personality and practical jokes. After hearing Neil Armstrong’s famous first words from the Moon about a “small step for man,” Conrad decided to express his personality in his first statement from the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission. As soon as he stepped on the Moon’s surface, he exclaimed, “Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that’s a long one for me!”

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Astronaut Pete Conrad prepares for launch at Kennedy Space Center

Astronaut Charles Conrad Jr., commander of the Skylab 2 mission, is suited up in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at the Kennedy Space Center during Skylab 2 prelaunch preparations. Skylab 2, with astronauts Conrad, Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz aboard, was launched from KSC’s Pad B, Launch Complex 39, at 9:00 a.m. (EDT), May 25, 1973.

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All Crewed Missions

Gemini V

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All Crewed Missions

Gemini XI

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All Crewed Missions

Apollo 12

The primary mission objectives of the second crewed lunar landing included an extensive series of lunar exploration tasks by the lunar module, or LM, crew, as well as the deployment…

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