Talk:List of Apollo astronauts

older comments
What's the difference between this (List of lunar astronauts) & List of men who walked on the moon? --Menchi 01:34, 27 Sep 2003 (UTC)


 * User:Daran just redirected "men who walked..." here. --Menchi 01:39, 27 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Can this page include a discussion and/or link to a discussion about contraversey surrounding the authenticity of the US landing on the moon - the political ramifications of the landing, and the space race?

Left earth orbit? Why doesn't the moon just fly off into space, then? XD
 * Corrected. Carcharoth 12:03, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Apollo 21?
Was there actually an Apollo 21 flight scheduled? I have always read the series was originally to end with Apollo 20, until 18, 19, & 20 got axed. --Matthew 00:59, 7 February 2006 (UTC)


 * See Cancelled Apollo missions. In short, no, but if you really squinted at the schedules in a three-month period in 1968 and crossed your fingers you might have been able to expect one. Shimgray | talk | 01:14, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

Relevance of age today
I don't see any relevance to the age today column under People who have walked on the Moon. I suggest that it be removed. -- Mufka (u) (t) (c) 14:13, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Removed. -- Mufka (u) (t) (c) 17:51, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

I was looking for a way to see who was still alive, and that column would have done it. 2604:2000:F64D:FC00:844E:7F62:FF7F:FFEE (talk) 06:55, 13 October 2018 (UTC)

Armstrong was a civilian
I removed the "USN" label on Neil Armstrong's entry in the list because he was a civilian when he joined the astronaut corps. Other such astronauts' entries likely need to be fixed, too. YLee (talk) 07:24, 6 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Do you have a reference for this?--RadioFan (talk) 00:16, 24 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Cite added. YLee (talk) 02:33, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

"Engineers"
I have twice reverted Engology's edits describing the 12 astronauts who've walked on the moon as "Engineers." I object due to the following reasons:
 * Inaccuracy. Harrison Schmitt is a geologist by training, not an engineer. Yes, I know there is such a thing as engineering geology, but there is no evidence Schmitt has ever worked in or studied that field.
 * Irrelevance. Of course the other 11 astronauts were (trained as) engineers, as an engineering degree was required to be a member of all of the early astronaut classes (except Schmitt and other scientist-astronauts). One might as well also say that they were all previous or active-duty of the United States military, or four-year college graduates.
 * Misplacement. Even if all 12 moonwalkers were engineers, this fact really wouldn't belong in the summary paragraph, anyway; it'd be better suited to the section specifically discussing them. YLee (talk) 13:14, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Now I see that Engology is systematically adding "an Engineer" to the summary sections of every moonwalker's article. This seems very dubious to me. While, as I note above, all of the 12 moonwalkers (again, except Schmitt) received engineering degrees, to describe all of them as "Engineers" (complete with capitalization) the lead sentence&mdash;even before "astronaut"&mdash;does not seem proper. Alan Bean, for example, retired from NASA in order to become a professional artist, but that isn't mentioned in the summary section at all! YLee (talk) 13:40, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, Astronaut Harrison Schmitt is a geologist and this entry was an error. You seem to think that it is OK for him to be referred to as a Geologist in the lead in, but it is NOT OK for other Astronauts to be referred to as Engineers in the lead in. Where is the consistency? You reverting these edits for no good reason is disruptive and responding to personal whims. I am quite entitled to add the word *Engineer* considering it is OK to include the words, Geologist, Physician, Physicist, Astronaut, etc., in lead ins. Alan Bean is not yet an Artist, so it would not be appropriate to add it as an entry for now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Engology (talk • contribs) 21:34, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
 * An engineering degree != Engineer as a profession. The lede sentence should describe the person in the most accurate and relevant way. If someone who has a BS in Engineering but never worked as an engineer, never held the title of engineer, was never certifed as a professional enginer - it would be misleading to refer to them as an "Engineer". Rillian (talk) 14:37, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
 * If he has an approved degree in engineering, he is an Engineer and he will always be an Engineer whether he practises as one or not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Engology (talk • contribs) 17:34, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
 * By that logic, the thousands of people with journalism degrees who never worked as a journalist are somehow still "Journalists" (capital J and all). Engineering is a profession, not just a degree. Rillian (talk) 02:57, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

category
Please add the article to Category:Apollo program. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.64.37.240 (talk) 15:55, September 22, 2010


 * Done. TJRC (talk) 23:19, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Men
I hope I'm a good feminist, really I do. But at the end of the day, they were all men. The "human", "people" business is simply ridiculous and beings to grate after a while. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.50.67 (talk) 07:41, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

So, in your judgment then, only women are "human" or "people?" How odd!122.26.51.203 (talk) 15:50, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

The point is that only men went. Not human people of both genders—men alone. "Human" and "people" are collective terms that include women, who were not included. Clear? 2604:2000:F64D:FC00:844E:7F62:FF7F:FFEE (talk) 07:00, 13 October 2018 (UTC)

Is The Apollo Effort Being American In Origin Worthy Of Inclusion On This Page??
I am quite surprised to find that there is not a single reference on this entire page about the fact that the Apollo series of missions were American in origin, design and execution. Don't you think this fact deserves some recognition on this page, at least in the opening paragraph?

If and when the Chinese, Indians, Japanese or any other natioality successfully fly and return their astronauts to the moon, I am SURE Wikipedia will mention their nationality. So why not give these brave Americans the credit their incredible (and and after 42 years, unmatched) accomplishment deserves? It's hardly a violation of the so-called "global perspective" Wikipedia strives to adhere to for us to point out that every human thus far who has ever walked upon earth's satellite has been an American. Right? Thanks122.26.51.203 (talk) 15:46, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

Apollo astronauts who flew to the Moon without landing
In this section, the text says that 12 people have been close to the Moon without landing, however the table lists 14 people. I assume that the table is correct and the text wrong, but I don't want to make the edit, because I don't know the factual accuracy here. What worries me is that the Saturn V page was just edited to change the total number of people flown to the Moon from 24 to 26 so there is something wrong here. Can someone who is sure about this make the necessary edit? Thanks! -- MarkPos( User Page &#124; Talk  &#124;  Contribs ) 10:24, 26 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I just noticed that the 3rd paragraph of the article says "twenty-four" people have visited the moon implying 12 who landed and 12 who orbited, so I'm even more confused about the 14 people listed in the table. -- MarkPos( User Page &#124; Talk  &#124;  Contribs ) 10:31, 26 August 2011 (UTC)


 * 12 people went to the moon but never landed. The 14 people in the table include Young and Cernan, who did not land on their first flight to the Moon, but landed on later flights. --Zundark (talk) 10:42, 26 August 2011 (UTC)


 * That's clear, thanks! I should have noticed that from the tables, but I allowed myself to be misled by the edit to the Saturn V article (thanks for reverting that). -- MarkPos( User Page &#124; Talk  &#124;  Contribs ) 12:16, 26 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I've changed the table to just number the twelve who never landed. Hopefully this is clearer. (If not, it probably wants to be 15, so that it adds up to 27 - I've seen 14 quoted elsewhere, which confused the hell out of me.) Antrim Kate (talk) 19:03, 22 June 2012 (UTC)


 * The total of 24 men to the Moon is correct. Twelve men walked on the Moon--Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17. For each of those, one man remained in the Command Module, for six more, 12 + 6 = 18. Add three men each for Apollo 8 and 13, so 18 + 6 = 24 men who have flown to the Moon. Apollo 17 was the last lunar mission. Twelve walked on the Moon, and twelve did not. The ratio would have been 14:10, had the Apollo 13 Service Module not have exploded mid-flight, but those two couldn't land, so the ratio remains 12:12. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Glinness (talk • contribs) 19:46, 13 April 2013 (UTC)


 * It's 24, but not for the reasons you state. You're essentially saying there were 8 missions, with 3 men on each; Apollo 10 also travelled to the moon, which makes 9 missions. The reason it's only 24 is that - as Zundark states above - 3 men (Young, Cernan and Lovell) went twice. Is this not clear from the article? Antrim Kate (talk) 21:36, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

Move Grissom to a different section?
Should Grissom be moved from "From the Mercury Seven" section to "Other astronauts who trained for Apollo"? Same thing for White and Chaffee. There were others who were assigned as prime crewmembers but did not fly, and are listed in the lower section. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 05:02, 21 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Uh, no, I don't think that's a good idea. The intent was to put Grissom, White and Chaffee with the flight crews because their case is different from the others in that they were actually assigned to an iminently planned flight, and made it to within one month of their scheduled launch. The others might have been put on the flight roster, but never made it that far. They were removed from it due to factors such as their own performance (Cooper), the delay caused by the Apollo 13 failure, and the cancellation of the last missions. The only thing that kept Grissom, White and Chaffee from flying was that their spacecraft killed them. JustinTime55 (talk) 19:22, 24 September 2012 (UTC)
 * P.S.: There's also no evidence Givens was assigned to a prime crew; he was on the Apollo 7 support crew, which did not necessarily put him in the rotation as a backup crew slot might have. JustinTime55 (talk) 19:29, 24 September 2012 (UTC)


 * OK. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 20:06, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

Colours in the lists
What do the different colours in the list rows stand for? /Kiewbra (talk) 21:29, 12 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Apparently they're just used as separators, to group the men who flew together on the same flight crew. JustinTime55 (talk) 17:11, 13 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, in the first table - the missions that landed - the colours just alternate between each crew; in the second table the colours correspond to those in the first table, for the non-landing crewmember, which means that Apollo 13 gets a different colour because it doesn't feature in the original table. Then Apollos 8 and 10 are just given alternating colours so they're different to the others. Maybe these two should be different again to show that they didn't land, but that would only make it more complicated... Antrim Kate (talk) 18:13, 13 November 2012 (UTC)


 * This is ridiculous. There's no logical way ANYONE could figure that out without looking in the discussion section. I'm changing Apollo 13 to Blue for consistency's sake. littlebum2002 17:41, 10 November 2014 (UTC)

Navy & Airforce Vs Marines
I though it might be good to distinguish the astronauts more specifically as some are from the special core called 'marines' as opposed to 'navy' or 'air-force' Bensational (talk) 01:31, 9 September 2013 (UTC) 09-sep-2013
 * Where are you getting your information from? The tabulated list includes only the astronauts who flew in the Apollo program, and none of them was in the Marine corps. The only one mentioned here who was in the Marine Corps seems to be Clifton Williams, who was killed in training. None of these men has his service listed, and that's probably not notable enough to include (readers can find their services when they click the wikilinks.) Are you maybe thinking of Marine astronaut John Glenn? he is not here because he didn't participate in Apollo, having left the space program shortly after his Mercury flight. I don't think many of the classical astronauts were Marines (perhaps that's different today.) JustinTime55 (talk) 16:11, 9 September 2013 (UTC)
 * This list doesn't cover Skylab and the ASTP, but if you do count them as "Apollo" then there were three former-Marine astronauts who flew - Jack Lousma on Skylab 3, Gerald Carr on Skylab 4, and Vance Brand on ASTP (though he had been recruited as a civilian). Andrew Gray (talk) 18:34, 9 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Fair enough, agree to leave as is. Bensational (talk) 03:22, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Incomplete
When I start to read, and begin to use, an article titled "List of ..." I assume it is complete. As well as having a warning that this article needs more source citations, it should begin with a warning that this list is not complete. E.g. William R. Pogue. I expect to find many other names when I get a good NASA document source. EdgarDurbin — Preceding unsigned comment added by EdgarDurbin (talk • contribs) 21:52, 19 January 2016 (UTC)
 * The Mission column: Apollo 10 should be mentioned for Young and Cernan too, they flew that trip twice, as did Lovell.Samwonderer (talk) 01:54, 29 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi. Please see the section above entitled "Apollo astronauts who flew to the Moon without landing​", it addresses this point. Randy Kryn (talk) 02:58, 29 April 2021 (UTC)

Numbers vs text
The first paragraph uses text for numbers, but the 3rd and 4th paragraphs use the number. We should have uniformity. Alan Davidson (talk) 03:41, 10 October 2016 (UTC)


 * Seems to be in comformity with WP:Number. GraemeLeggett (talk) 07:53, 10 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Thank you. This policy says either may be used.  But it would be preferable to be consistent within the same article. Alan Davidson (talk) 04:44, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

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Unexpected speed up the deaths of the Moonwalkers
Quite remarkable that 1/3 of them died within almost 2 years, should be mentioned. 94.247.89.102 (talk) 10:58, 27 May 2018 (UTC)
 * It's not all that remarkable. They're all at the age where, actuarially, they'd be expected to be dying. Not only that, adding it to the article would be WP:OR. TJRC (talk) 23:19, 27 May 2018 (UTC)

"Second seat"
The term "second seat" needs a definition. My assumption is that it refers to an astronaut who is not the mission commander. On Gemini, that's simple enough. On Apollo, it's not clear what it means. Middle Apollo seat/LM pilot? I'm not against space jockey talk, which this is, but we need to make it clear to readers. It's not clear to me. I don't see it defined in either the Gemini or Apollo main articles. The term is overused in this article and should replaced (or parenthetically defined) in several places with the word "pilot"--assuming that's correct. A one-sentence definition of the terms commander, pilot, LM pilot should be placed in an early part of the article as an aid to readers. DonFB (talk) 06:20, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Update: I boldly added definitions based on terminology, which I believe to be correct, in the Gemini 10 and Apollo 11 articles. DonFB (talk) 06:36, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Sort by Lunar EVA dates
I'm not sure exactly how to fix this, but if you sort the "Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon" list according to Lunar EVA dates, it gets sorted alphanumerically, instead of being sorted properly. That is Young and Duke come out first because their Lunar EVA was in April, which starts with A, even if it is April 1972; Conrad and Bean come out last because their EVA was in November which starts with N, even if it was November 1969. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.161.33.2 (talk • contribs) 16:12: 21 April 2020 (UTC)
 * with sort and Date table sorting. —⁠andrybak (talk) 17:15, 21 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ —⁠andrybak (talk) 17:20, 21 April 2020 (UTC)

Neil Armstrong listed as civilian, with no mention that the astronaut was a veteran
The article lists Neil Armstrong as a civilian. Please note if that can be replaced with veteran. Neil Armstrong did fly several reconnaissance and battle flights in Korea as a Navy pilot. True, the highest rank achieved as lieutenant, and lieutenant JG (junior grade) as a reservist, but a war veteran should get more recognition in an article like this. I know from experience that a veteran does get special treatment. My mother served in the Navy with my father, and they were the first married couple to join the armed forces in history. Before I was born in 1967, my mother had to retire as an ensign. In November 2011, my mother and I attended my father's funeral that was both a civilian and military service, complete with a 21 gun salute. At one point, a flag was folded and an NCO (I believe a senior chief petty officer) gave the flag to my mother and saluted. I wondered why the NCO would salute a civilian, then it occurred to my mother is a veteran and received a salute even with the low rank of ensign. I feel this article should show a similar respect to Neil Armstrong, and mention the man was indeed a veteran. Dkf12 (talk) 00:48, 9 August 2020 (UTC)
 * The article does not hide Armstrong's Navy service or veteran status, and there is no slight or insult given. If you read footnote 7 beside the table entry of "civilian", you will see this. There is something about the NASA astronauts you fail to see: the astronauts who came to NASA while still on active military duty in fact remained on active duty and were treated as military employees and not employees of NASA. The ones (fewer) who were not still in military service (including Elliot See) were considered NASA employees and designated "civilian astronauts". regardless of their prior military service. JustinTime55 (talk) 15:36, 10 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your notation on the article listing prior military service. I was checking if the table within "Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon" could list Neil Armstrong as "Veteran" under "Military Service", which would be appropriate.Dkf12 (talk) 02:40, 11 August 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅, added (Navy veteran), good point, thanks. Randy Kryn (talk) 02:42, 29 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Looks good. Dkf12 (talk) 13:57, 29 April 2021 (UTC)

No mention of Apollo astronauts who did not get lunar missions?
Apollos 7 and 9 were Earth orbit flights, and five of the six astronauts who flew them were never assigned Moon missions. By extension, the SkyLab and ASTP missions used Apollo CSMs in Earth orbit. Some people call ASTP "Apollo 18". Shouldn't the astronauts of these low Earth orbit Apollo missions get their own section?
 * Of course they should get a section and chart. Personally, I never thought of it. Thank you for being a guardian of this page and of accuracy. I'm not quick with coding a chart but will take a look at the coding at some point soon if no one else creates it, and if you want to give it a go please do, should at least be a chart for 7 and 9. Randy Kryn (talk) 02:51, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

A table is needed to replace the prose list.
There is too much information on this page that can be better sorted in a table. Almost all of the prose is already available on the primary linksAbsolutely Certainly (talk) 19:34, 7 June 2022 (UTC).

Orbited the Moon?
“Three men have been to the Moon twice, one only orbited both times…” I believe that Apollo 13 followed a free return trajectory without entering lunar orbit, as did Zond 5. If so, then Jim Lovell orbited only one time, and the two turtles and 5 mice not at all. Ian Black Blacki999 (talk) 11:44, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks, good points, and have edited the page (i.e. the correct term is Circumlunar trajectory, the Apollo 13 page says they "looped around the Moon" and I've added the correct term to it and to the Zond 5 page). A mistake though, the five mice orbited 75 times on Apollo 17, still a record for any living being by both number of orbits and time spent in orbit. Randy Kryn (talk) 12:08, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

Thanks Randy. I misread somewhere that the 5 mice were aboard Zond 5 with the turtles. I assume that Command Module Pilot Ron Evans shares the records with the five mice? My comment may be moot, as the Wikipedia "Orbit" article says "Normally, orbit refers to a regularly repeating trajectory, although it may also refer to a non-repeating trajectory." Such as a circumlunar trajectory? Blacki999 (talk) 06:36, 16 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes,, Evans and the mice are the record holders. Tied. Maybe better to leave it as is because the literal term "orbit" would mean, to most people, going completely around the entire astronomical body at least once and not partially around it as Apollo 13 and Zond 5 did (they did not complete the entire trip "around" the Moon). I think you got it right the first time. Randy Kryn (talk) 11:03, 16 May 2023 (UTC)

Astronauts who flew to the Moon without landing
The list includes just one astronaut from Apollo 10 - Tom Stafford. There were two others (John Young and Gene Cernan) on this mission who do not appear in this list..? 2A00:23CC:D214:101:1DB5:E868:169E:32E5 (talk) 11:54, 5 March 2024 (UTC)


 * I have now read the above ‘Talk’ relating to this point and note that they are not included in this list as they also took part in later missions where they landed on the surface of the moon. (John Young on Apollo 16 ; Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17) 2A00:23CC:D214:101:1DB5:E868:169E:32E5 (talk) 12:02, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

Age - months or days?
Any consensus as to whether we should be using Y+D or Y+M+d for age at first step? Some (unrelated) "list of [youngest] records" articles use Y+D, so it seems appropriate here? Y+D is more accurate than Y+M+d, as months obviously have different lengths. 3nt0 (talk) 06:02, 21 April 2024 (UTC)


 * Sounds a bit like a small kid proudly declaring "I'm 5 years, 2 months and 11 days old". I'd stick to years only. Days and even months only matter when we're talking of under 3 years old.  Stepho  talk 06:05, 21 April 2024 (UTC)