10 Facts About Leon Silver

Leon Theodore "Lee" Silver was an American geologist who was professor of geology at the California Institute of Technology.

Leon Silver was an instructor to the Apollo 13,15,16, and 17 astronaut crews.

Leon Silver's training is credited with a significant improvement in the J-Mission Apollo flights' scientific returns.

Leon Silver retired in 1996 as the W M Keck Foundation Professor for Resource Geology, emeritus, at Caltech.

Leon Silver's parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland, who moved the family to Waterbury, Connecticut soon after he was born.

Leon Silver served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946, where he attained the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade in the Civil Engineer Corps.

Leon Silver worked for the United States Geological Survey, Mineral Deposits Branch, in Colorado and Arizona from 1947 to 1954, where he attained the status of Assistant Geologist.

Leon Silver was interviewed about the episode and he felt that it "romanticized" the experience, and had minor historical inaccuracies, but otherwise liked it and showed it at a lecture in 1999.

Leon Silver was a board member of the Caswell Leon Silver Foundation at the University of New Mexico.

Leon Silver died on January 31,2022, at the age of 96.