Geologist who walked on the moon during his Apollo 17 mission, December, 1972.

(the following was compiled by Sandi Rendall from Current Biographies, volume 35, 1974)

Harrison Hagan Schmitt was born July 3rd, 1935 and was nicknamed "Jackie" to differentiate him from his father and grandfather, who were also named Harrison. He is the only geologist and the first scientist and 1st civilian in the space program. His father was also a geologist.

He helped work the family farm, visiting mine camps in Indian reservations on field trips with his father. In 1964 through 1965 he worked with the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona, assembling photos taken by Ranger, an unmanned spacecraft, into detailed lunar maps. He helped develop techniques and equipment for use during the moon landings and instructed astronauts on geological field trips.

He entered the space program in June of 1965, and was selected for the Apollo 17 mission in 1971. He said the lunar experience made him feel like "a kid playing in a sandbox." His exploration yielded "some of the most significant data of the entire Apollo project."

He completed astronaut training 2nd in his class of 50, was the best pilot among 15 scientist astronauts and the only geologist. He trained the Apollo 11 and 12 crews on the geologic aspects of missions and helped develop equipment to be used, such as shovels and scoops. He had logged 1300 hours flying time in jets when he was chosen for the moon landing.

In August 1969 he was the only scientist/astronaut with enough flying time to be considered for the moon landing, the first scientist to train for moon landing after being backup module pilot for Apollo 15.

Schmitt and Cernan landed, Evans stayed in the module. He was the 12th man to walk on the moon, spent the longest time on the moon surface - 74 hours 50 minutes. He spent 22 hours, 5 minutes outside the space capsule, spending 7-8 hours per day collecting 249 pounds of rocks and soil for scientific analyst analysis. He helped analyze over 900 pounds of geological samples brought from the moon during the six Apollo missions.

He is a Bachelor, the only one in the astronaut program, and drove an old Volkswagen. He is 5' 9" tall and weighed 165 pounds, is an expert skier, accomplished chef (especially of Mexican dishes), runs and lifts weights.