68 Facts About Charles Duke

Charles Duke is one of four surviving Moon walkers, along with David Scott, Buzz Aldrin and Harrison Schmitt.

Charles Duke served as CAPCOM for Apollo 11, the first crewed landing on the Moon.

Charles Duke served as backup Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 17.

Charles Duke graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1978.

Charles Duke was promoted to brigadier general in 1979, and retired in June 1986.

Charles Duke has logged 4,147 hours' flying time, of which 3,632 hours were in jet aircraft, and 265 hours were in space, including 21 hours and 38 minutes of EVA.

Charles Duke was followed six minutes later by his identical twin brother William Waters Duke.

Charles Duke's mother traced her ancestry back to Colonel Philemon Waters, who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Charles Duke's father returned from the South Pacific in 1944, and was stationed at Naval Air Station Daytona Beach, so the family moved there.

Charles Duke was active in the Boy Scouts of America and earned its highest rank, Eagle Scout in 1946.

Charles Duke decided that he would like to pursue a military career.

Charles Duke sat the examination for Annapolis in the middle of his senior year, and soon after received a letter informing him that he had passed, and had been accepted into the class of 1957.

Charles Duke graduated from Farragut as valedictorian and president of the senior class in 1953.

Charles Duke was no athlete, but played golf for the academy team.

At his commissioning physical, Charles Duke was shocked to find that he had a minor astigmatism in his right eye, which precluded him from becoming a naval aviator, but the Air Force said that it would still take him.

Charles Duke received a Bachelor of Science degree in naval sciences in June 1957, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.

Charles Duke was then sent to Spence Air Force Base in Moultrie, Georgia, for primary flight training.

Charles Duke graduated near the top of his class, and received his wings and a certificate identifying him as a distinguished graduate, which gave him a choice of assignments.

Charles Duke completed six months' advanced training on the F-86 Sabre aircraft at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia, where he was a distinguished graduate.

Once again, Charles Duke had his choice of assignments, and chose the 526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany.

Charles Duke chose the assignment precisely because it was the front line.

Charles Duke applied to study aeronautical engineering at North Carolina State University, but this was not available.

Peter Hoag topped the class; Charles Duke tied for second place.

Charles Duke spotted a front-page article in the Los Angeles Times, and realized that he met all the requirements.

Charles Duke went to see Yeager and the deputy commandant, Colonel Robert Buchanan, who informed him that there were two astronaut selections in progress: one for NASA, and one for the USAF's Manned Orbiting Laboratory program.

Charles Duke applied only to NASA, as did Roosa and Worden; Hartsfield applied for both and was taken by MOL.

Charles Duke made the list of 44 finalists selected to undergo medical examinations at Brooks Air Force Base at San Antonio, Texas.

Charles Duke arrived there on January 26,1966, along with two fellow aviators from Edwards, Joe Engle and Bill Pogue.

Charles Duke was part of the Mission Control team at the Kennedy Space Center that monitored the launch of Gemini 11 on September 12,1966, and Gemini 12 on November 11,1966.

NASA provided T-38 Talon aircraft for the astronauts' use, and like most astronauts, Charles Duke flew at every opportunity.

Once again, Charles Duke received his choice, and became a Lunar Module specialist.

Charles Duke oversaw the development of the Lunar Module propulsion systems.

George Low, the Apollo Spacecraft Program manager, convened a committee to review the situation, and Charles Duke became the Astronaut Office representative on it.

In 1969, Charles Duke became a member of the support crew for Apollo 10, along with Joe Engle and Jim Irwin.

Charles Duke told Armstrong that he would be honored to do so.

Slayton therefore assigned Charles Duke, who was well known to Young from Apollo 10, in Cernan's place.

Two or three weeks before the launch date, Charles Duke contracted rubella from Paul House, the son of Glenn and Suzanne House.

Young, Mattingly and Charles Duke worked in the simulators to develop emergency procedures for the crew, who were ultimately returned safely to Earth.

Young, Mattingly and Charles Duke were officially named as the crew of Apollo 16, the fifth lunar landing mission, on March 3,1971.

Charles Duke feared that he might not recover in time for the launch, which was scheduled for March 17,1972.

The staff's protestations that Charles Duke was still there and had not left did not placate Petrone, and they had to track down Charles Duke in training, who suggested that Petrone might have seen his brother Bill.

Charles Duke was unable to get the S-band steerable antenna on the LM Orion to move in the yaw axis, and therefore could not align it correctly.

Mattingly prepared to shift Casper to a circular orbit while Young and Charles Duke prepared Orion for the descent to the lunar surface.

Charles Duke became the tenth person to walk upon the surface of the Moon, following Young, who became the ninth.

Charles Duke left two items on the Moon, both of which he photographed.

Charles Duke was the only Air Force officer to visit the Moon that year.

Charles Duke left one on the Moon and donated the other to the Air Force.

Charles Duke became the backup LMP, Young the backup commander, and Roosa the backup CMP.

Charles Duke had spent 265 hours and 51 minutes in space.

Charles Duke served as Mobilization Augmentee to the Commander, Air Force Basic Military Training Center and to the Commander, USAF Recruiting Service.

Charles Duke graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1978 and was promoted to brigadier general the following year.

Charles Duke has logged 4,147 hours of flying time, of which 3,632 hours was in jet aircraft.

Charles Duke had always been fond of Coors Beer, which was only available in Texas around Dallas and El Paso at the time.

The Coors distributorship was very successful, but Charles Duke became bored and frustrated with it, and decided to sell in February 1978.

Charles Duke joined a friend, Ken Campbell, in real estate ventures.

In 1973, Charles Duke received an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of South Carolina, an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Francis Marion University in 1990, and an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from Clemson University in 2012.

Charles Duke was named South Carolina Man of the Year in 1973, inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 1973, and the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983.

Charles Duke was one of 24 Apollo astronauts who were inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.

Charles Duke was inducted into the Texas Science Hall of Fame in 2000, and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2019.

Charles Duke's name is inscribed on The Astronaut Monument in Iceland, where they conducted some of their geological training.

Charles Duke was the subject of the documentary Lunar Tribute, which premiered at the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium on October 20,2017.

At a panel after the screening, Neil deGrasse Tyson noted that Charles Duke was the youngest person to walk on the Moon.

Charles Duke joined the Back to Space organization in 2018 as an Astronaut Consultant with the goal of inspiring through film the next generation to go to Mars.

Charles Duke was featured prominently in the BBC World Service Podcast, 13 Minutes to the Moon, released in 2019 to mark 50 years since the Apollo 11 mission.

In 2018, country music duo The Stryker Brothers released the song "Charlie Charles Duke Took Country Music To The Moon", which tells the true story of how Charles Duke brought two audio cassette tapes of country music to play during the Apollo 16 mission.

Charles Duke appeared in an online video asserting that he got to know the brothers as children at the home of disc jockey Bailey, and that he gave them a copy of the tapes following his return from the Moon.

In reality, Charles Duke met Rogers at an event in New Braunfels, where both men live.

Charles Duke is a character in episode 34 of the fictional youth audio adventure series Jonathan Park.