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Alan Bean

As an astronaut and the fourth person to walk on the moon, Alan Bean is dedicated to inspiring people to be the best they can be, so their family can be the best it can be, and their company can be the best it can be.

The Apollo program was an impossible dream come true. Sending humans from Planet Earth to explore the moon and return was a glamorous and newsworthy dream, but no more important than the dreams we all have in our hearts right now. With this conviction, Alan will take each person in the audience along with him as Lunar Module Pilot on the flight of Apollo 12 and along the way present some thoughts and ideas that will help each individual reach for their own professional and personal stars.

By talking with, and listening to the client prior to an event, Alan custom tailors each speech around the theme of the client's event and the specific goals they wish to emphasize. He does this by telling stories from personal experiences during his 18-year career in NASA. Alan can focus on a broad variety of subjects from teamwork, high achievement, risk taking, goal setting, attitude control, achieving maximum potential, creative thinking, leadership, and effective followership, to showing how a company and an individual can find ways to accomplish their goals and dreams and more.

Captain Bean knows about reaching for the stars, organizationally and individually. In 1973, he was the Commander of Skylab Mission II (SL III), where he lived 59 days in space, orbiting 270 miles above our planet Earth. Under his leadership his crew accomplished 150% of their pre-mission goals - a record unsurpassed before or since.

Alan has appeared as himself in movies and television, the most recent being "Rocket's Red Glare" with Robert Wagner. Actor Dave Foley portrayed Alan in the Tom Hanks epic miniseries for HBO, "From the Earth to the Moon". During his career as an astronaut, Alan helped establish eleven (11) world records in aeronautics and astronautics. He was awarded two (2) NASA Distinguished Service Medals. He also has received the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the Yuri Gagarin Gold Medal, and many other national and international honors.

Captain Bean shows why as human beings from the Planet Earth we are the most extraordinary creatures in the universe. We are unique because as far as we know we are the only beings in the universe whose only limits are those we place on ourselves. As a NASA Astronaut, Bean learned that people did not have to be extra gifted or extra talented to do something great. No matter what their level of achievement may have been in the past, with extra effort and dedication they can be great in the future. Organizations and individuals are almost always significantly better than they know or believe. The saving of the Apollo 13 crew after their oxygen tank exploded is a perfect example.

People listen to Alan. He has competence and credibility and he causes them to think about where they are professionally and where they want to be. He stresses that we have but a brief chance, maybe 30 to 40 years at the most, to accomplish all we have dreamed we could. What we do today and tomorrow is not a rehearsal for some other life. Right now is the time we must be willing to do whatever it takes to be the person, professionally and personally, we have always dreamed we could be. Captain Bean emphasizes that our future will be cast in the image of our thoughts and actions of today.

Scott Carpenter

Scott Carpenter, a dynamic pioneer of modern exploration, has the unique distinction of being the first human ever to penetrate both inner and outer space, thereby acquiring the dual title, Astronaut/Aquanaut.

He was born in Boulder, Colorado, on May 1, 1925, the son of research chemist Dr. M. Scott Carpenter and Florence Kelso Noxon Carpenter. He attended the University of Colorado from 1945 to 1949 and received a bachelor of science degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

Carpenter was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1949. He was given flight training at Pensacola, Florida and Corpus Christi, Texas and designated a Naval Aviator in April, 1951. During the Korean War he served with patrol Squadron Six, flying anti-submarine, ship surveillance, and aerial mining, and ferret missions in the Yellow Sea, South China Sea, and the Formosa Straits. He attended the Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, in 1954 and was subsequently assigned to the Electronics Test Division of the Naval Air Test Center, also at Patuxent. In that assignment he flew tests in every type of naval aircraft, including multi- and single-engine jet and propeller-driven fighters, attack planes, patrol bombers, transports, and seaplanes. From 1957 to 1959 he attended the Navy General Line School and the Navy Air Intelligence School and was then assigned as Air Intelligence Officer to the Aircraft Carrier, USS Hornet.

Carpenter was selected as one of the original seven Mercury Astronauts on April 9, 1959. He underwent intensive training with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), specializing in communication and navigation. He served as backup pilot for John Glenn during the preparation for America's first manned orbital space flight in February 1962.

Carpenter flew the second American manned orbital flight on May 24, 1962. He piloted his Aurora 7 spacecraft through three revolutions of the earth, reaching a maximum altitude of 164 miles. The spacecraft landed in the Atlantic Ocean about 1000 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral after 4 hours and 54 minutes of flight time.

On leave of absence from NASA, Carpenter participated in the Navy's Man-in the-Sea Project as an Aquanaut in the SEALAB II program off the coast of La Jolla, California, in the summer of 1965. During the 45-day experiment, Carpenter spent 30 days living and working on the ocean floor. He was team leader for two of the three ten-man teams of Navy and civilian divers who conducted deep-sea diving activities in a seafloor habitat at a depth of 205 feet.

He returned to duties with NASA as Executive Assistant to the Director of the Manned Spaceflight Center and was active in the design of the Apollo Lunar Landing Module and in underwater extravehicular activity (EVA) crew training.

In 1967, he returned to the Navy's Deep Submergence Systems Project (DSSP) as Director of Aquanaut Operations during the SEALAB III experiment. (The DSSP office was responsible for directing the Navy's Saturation Diving Program, which included development of deep-ocean search, rescue, salvage, ocean engineering, and Man-in-the-Sea capabilities.)

Upon retirement from the Navy in 1969,after twenty-five years of service, Carpenter founded and was chief executive officer of Sear Sciences, Inc., a venture capital corporation active in developing programs aimed at enhanced utilization of ocean resources and improved health of the planet. In pursuit of these and other objectives, he worked closely with the French oceanographer J.Y. Cousteau and members of his Calypso team. He has dived in most of the world's oceans, including the Arctic under ice.

As a consultant to sport and professional diving equipment manufacturers, he has contributed to design improvements in diving instruments, underwater breathing equipment, swimmer propulsion units, small submersibles, and other underwater devices.

Additional projects brought to fruition by his innovative guidance have involved biological pest control and the production of energy from agricultural and industrial waste. He has also been instrumental in the design and improvement of several types of waste handling and waste-transfer equipment.

Carpenter continues to apply his knowledge of aerospace and ocean engineering as a consultant to industry and the private sector. He lectures frequently in the U.S. and abroad on the history and future of ocean and space technology, the impact of scientific and technological advance on human affairs, and man's continuing search for excellence. An avid skier, he spends much of his free time on the slopes in his home of Vail, Colorado, his home for the past fifteen years.

He has appeared as television spokesman for many major corporations, including General Motors (Oldsmobile), standard Oil of California, Nintendo, and Atari; and has hosted and narrated a number of television documentaries. He has also served as actor/consultant to the film industry in the fields of space flight, oceanography, and the global environment.

He has written two novels, both dubbed "underwater techno-thrillers." The first was entitled "The Steel Albatross." The second, a sequel, was called "Deep Flight." His memoir, "For Spacious Skies" which he co-authored with his daughter, Kristen Stoever, was published by Harcourt in January 2003.

Carpenter's awards include the Navy's Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, U.S. Navy Astronaut Wings, the University of Colorado Recognition Medal, the Collier Trophy, the New York City Gold Medal of Honor, the Elisha Kent Kane Medal, the Ustica Gold Trident, and the Boy Scouts of America Silver Buffalo. He has been awarded seven honorary degrees.

Eugene Cernan

Captain Eugene A. Cernan is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Cernan Corporation, a space-related technology and marketing consulting firm. He is the former Chairman of Johnson Engineering Corporation, a NASA contractor, prior to its acquisition by SPACEHAB, Inc.

Captain Cernan has acted as Special Consultant with television networks in on-camera support of covering space and related documentary programming - most notable among which are ABC Television's News and Special Events and ESPN's documentary coverage of "Earthwinds Hilton." He has recently authored The Last Man On The Moon.

Captain Cernan joined Digital Equipment in 1986 and served as an Executive Consultant, Aerospace and Government for the Government Systems Group organization until 1992. From 1976 to 1981, Captain Cernan served as the Executive Vice President, International and Director of Coral Petroleum, Inc. He was charged with the corporate development of a world-wide supply and marketing strategy. During this period, Captain Cernan continued his education at the Wharton School of Finance and Northwestern University.

After serving twenty years as a Naval Aviator, Captain Cernan retired from the United States Navy in 1976. The last thirteen of those years were dedicated to direct involvement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) United States Space Program as an Astronaut. During his years with NASA, Captain Cernan flew on three separate space missions. He was the second American to walk in space as the pilot on Gemini IX, one of a crew of three to venture to the moon on Apollo X, and as Commander of Apollo XVII, Captain Cernan holds the distinction of being the last man to leave his footprints on the surface of the moon. Captain Cernan also actively participated in the design, engineering, and development testing of spacecraft hardware and systems. He was a member of the NASA senior management team and reviewed decisions which directly affected operations and mission planning. From 1973 through 1975, Captain Cernan served as a Senior United States Negotiator during discussions with the USSR concerning the joint United States and Soviet Apollo/Soyuz project.

Captain Cernan received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1956. He earned a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1963 from the United States Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California. Captain Cernan was also awarded Honorary Doctorates of Engineering from Purdue, Drexel and Gonzaga Universities, and an Honorary Doctorate degree from Western State College of Law and Comenius University of the Slovak Republic. His honors include the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal with Star, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the FAI International Gold Medal for Space, the VFW Gold Space Award, the Daughters of the American Revolution Medal for Space, the Sons of the American Revolution George Washington Award, induction into the U.S. Space Hall of Fame, the Challenger Center's "Salute to the U.S. Space Program" Honor, Slovak American World Recognition Award, Czech Republic Presidential Medal of Honor and a Television Emmy. Captain Cernan was an Olympic Torch Bearer in May, 1996, and in 2000 was enshrined into the National Aviation Hall of Fame and in the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. He was honored by the Illinois State Society as Outstanding Illinoisian during the 54th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, DC., and most recently Captain Cernan received the national engineering award of the year, The Washington Award 2003.

Walter Cunningham

On October 11, 1968, Walter Cunningham occupied the lunar module pilot seat for the eleven-day flight of Apollo 7, the first manned flight test of the third generation United States spacecraft. With Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and Donn F. Eisele, Cunningham participated in and executed maneuvers enabling the crew to perform exercises in transposition and docking and lunar orbit rendezvous with the S-IVB stage of their Saturn IB launch vehicle. They completed eight successful test and maneuvering ignitions of the service module propulsion engine, measured the accuracy of performance of all spacecraft systems, and provided the first effective television transmission of onboard crew activities. The 263-hour, four-and-a-half million mile shakedown flight was successfully concluded on October 22, 1968, with splashdown occurring in the Atlantic near the carrier Essex (only 3/10 of a mile from the originally predicted aiming point).

Prior to his assignment to the Apollo 7 crew, Cunningham was the backup Lunar Module Pilot to the crew of Apollo 1. When the Apollo 1 spacecraft burned up on the pad, killing the entire crew, Cunningham, Schirra, and Eisele were assigned to fly the first manned Apollo mission.

Mr. Cunningham's last assignment at the Johnson Space Center was as Chief of the Skylab Branch of the Fight Crew Directorate. In this capacity he was responsible for the operational inputs for five major pieces of manned space hardware, two different boosters and 65 major on-board experiments that comprised the Skylab program. The Skylab program also utilized the first manned systems employing arrays for electrical power, molecular sieves for environmental control systems, and inertia storage devices for attitude control systems.

Prior to joining NASA, Cunningham worked as a scientist for the RAND Corporation. While with RAND, he worked on classified defense studies and problems of the earth's magnetosphere.

Mr. Cunningham joined the Navy in 1951 and began his flight training in 1952. In 1953 he became a Marine Corps fighter pilot and served on active duty with the United States Marine Corps until August 1956 and in the Marine Corps Reserve program until 1975. His present rank is Colonel, USMCR (Retired). He has accumulated more than 4,500 hours of flying time, including more than 3,400 in jet aircraft and 263 hours in space.

Currently, Mr. Cunningham is a successful businessman, investor and Director of numerous public and private companies. He is author of The All American Boys, the human side of the space program. He is a radio talk show host and frequent lecturer throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He is a civic leader, is listed in all major Who's Who publications and is a recipient of numerous national and international honors.

Charles Duke

Upon graduation from the Naval Academy and receiving his commission in the USAF, Mr. Duke entered pilot training and received his wings in Sept. 1958. He served three years in Germany as a fighter interceptor pilot with the 526th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Ramstein Air Base. He was then assigned to MIT for a master's degree. In 1964, he entered the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB. He logged 4,147 hours flying time which includes 3,632 hours in jet aircraft.

Astronaut Duke is one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. Duke served as lunar module pilot of Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972. He was accompanied on the fifth manned lunar mission by John W. Young (spacecraft commander) and Thomas K. Mattingly II (command module pilot). Apollo 16 was the first scientific expedition to inspect, survey and sample materials and surface features in the Descartes region of the rugged lunar highlands. Duke and Young commenced their lunar surface stay of 71 hours and 14 minutes by maneuvering the lunar module "Orion" to a landing on the rough Cayley Plains. In three subsequent excursions onto the lunar surface, Duke and Young logged 20 hours and 15 minutes in extra-vehicular activities - involving the emplacement and activation of scientific equipment and experiments, the collection of nearly 213 pounds o rock and soil samples, and the evaluation and use of Rover-2 over the roughest and blockiest surface yet encountered on the moon.

Other Apollo 16 achievements include: largest payload placed in lunar orbit (79,109 pounds); first cosmic ray detector deployed on lunar surface; first lunar observatory with the far ultraviolet camera; and longest inflight EVA from a command module during trans- earth coast (1 hour and 13 minutes). Apollo 16 concluded with a Pacific splashdown and subsequent recovery by the USS Ticonderoga. With the completion of the Apollo 16 mission, General Duke has logged 265 hours and 51 minutes in space, which includes 21 hours and 28 minutes in extra-vehicular activities. Astronaut Duke also served as the backup lunar module pilot for the Apollo 13 and Apollo 17 flights.

In December 1975, Duke retired from NASA to enter private business in San Antonio. He entered the USAF Reserves in 1975 and served as Mobilization Augmentee to Commander AF Basic Military Training Center and to Commander USAF Recruiting Service. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1979 and retired in June, 1986. Since 1976, Mr. Duke has been involved in a wide variety of business. He and his wife reside in New Braunfels, Texas. They have co-authored the book Moonwalker, released by Oliver Nelson Publishers in March 1990, and produced two videos, Moonwalker and Walk on the Moon, Walk with the Son.

Charlie Duke is an active motivational and inspirational speaker. As an entrepreneur, business executive, military officer, and Astronaut, he brings to the speakers platform forty years of experience. His speeches are entertaining, informative and sprinkled with humor. He has appeared on numerous TV shows, and spoken for hundreds of associations, clubs, organizations, churches, and schools all over the world.

William G. Gregory

William G. Gregory held numerous fascinating roles within National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from July of 1990 to July of 1999. He was the NASA Pilot of the STS-67 astronomical research mission aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, Spacecraft Systems/Operations Branch Chief, NASA CAPCOM: Spacecraft Communicator in Mission Control, NASA Astronaut Lead for Landing/Rollout, NASA Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) Commander, NASA Kennedy Space Cneter Astronaut Support Personnel (ASP) and NASA Astronaut Representative for Multiplication Electronic Displays (MED).

In the United States Air Force, he was a Flight Test Program Manager and Experimental Test Pilot. He oversaw the planning and execution of several flight test programs costing millions of dollars and vital to the national defense. He managed teams of engineers, pilots and flight controllers to accomplish required testing of one-of-a-kind assets and commanded up to eight aircraft while airborne, maximizing test accomplishments while employing assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. As a Fighter Pilot Instructor, he taught student-fighter pilots aircraft systems and employment techniques both in the classroom and in the air. He maintained fifteen-minute alert status in a nuclear equipped aircraft on a war line in Europe and employed the F-111 fighter capable of long-range night/in the weather low-level flight and weapons delivery.

William received the "Top Performer" award by Honeywell for 2001, honoring his work in Vehicle Health Management. He received the 1996 Ellis Island Medal of Honor and was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the NASA Space Flight Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He is a distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy (15th of 900) and was selected as the Outstanding Engineering Graduate by the Colorado State Board of Engineers.

William is a member of the USAF Academy Association of Graduates, Association of Space Explorers, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Astronautical Society. He is currently working for Honeywell International Space Systems as the Marketing Development Manager for the Human Space Enterprise Team. For the past four years, he supervised the Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) effort for Space, has taken program from inception to winning several multi-million dollar contracts, and elevated Human Space efforts from a blackbox-building subcontractor to a service provider competing directly with the primes and contracting directly to NASA. The first VHM contract won by Space Systems was NRA 8-30, TA-5 for $5M, awarded in May 2001, with Option 1 awarded in Mar 2002. William represents all space business interests on the Aerospace Electronic Systems (AES) VHM board and has overall Business Development responsibility for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) program. He is the Pursuit Lead for the upcoming CEV proposal effort, with the suport contract to the primes valued in the billions. He is tasked with strategic leadership and planning of programs pursuant to future spacecraft while leading various other pursuits within Human Space. He is Six Sigma Greenbelt certified and is on the Board of Directors for the American Astronautical Society (AAS).

He has performed hundreds of speaking presentations throughout the world to schools, businesses and organizations including briefing members of Congress. William interviewed on national TV (NBC and Fox) during John Glenn's recent spaceflight and has had numerous speaking roles in space-related movies and documentaries.

Richard Gordon

Richard F. Gordon Jr. walked in space on Gemini XI and orbited the moon on Apollo XII. He was born October 5th, 1929 in Seattle, Washington. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Washington in 1957.

Gordon, a retired Navy Captain, received his wings as a Naval Aviator in 1953. He attended All-Weather Flight School and Jet Transitional Training and was assigned to an All-Weather Fighter Squadron at the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida. He attended the Navy's Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, MD and was a flight test pilot there until 1960.

He later served with Fighter Squadron 121 at the Miramar, California Naval Air Station as a Flight Instructor in the F4H and participated in the introduction of that aircraft to the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. He also was Flight Safety Officer, Assistant Operations Officer and Ground Training Officer for Fighter Squadron 96 at Miramar.

He won the Bendix Trophy Race from Los Angeles to New York in May 1961, setting a new speed record of 869.74 miles per hour and a transcontinental record of 2 hours, 47 minutes.

NASA selected Gordon as an astronaut in 1963. He made his first space flight as Pilot on the three-day Gemini XI Mission, launched September 12th, 1966. He and Commander Charles Conrad, Jr. tracked down and docked with an Agena satellite. Gordon left the spacecraft for a planned 115-minute space walk, but he had to cut it short after 44 minutes because of difficulty maintaining his position in weightlessness without handholds or foot restraints, a valuable lesson for later space walkers. They used the Agena engine to rocket to a then-record altitude of 850 miles.

Gordon and Conrad were back in space together on November 14th, 1969, on the Apollo XII Moon Mission. With them was Alan Bean. While Gordon circled 60 miles above the moon, Conrad and Bean demonstrated a pinpoint landing by parking the Lunar Module in the Ocean of Storms near an unmanned Surveyor craft that had touched down there two years earlier. They conducted two outside excursions to gather rocks and other information.

In 1971, Gordon became Chief of Advanced Programs for the Astronaut Office and worked on the design and testing of the Space Shuttle and development equipment. A year later he retired from NASA and the Navy to become Executive Vice President of the New Orleans Saints professional football team.

Richard Gordon was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame on March 19, 1993.

Thomas D. Jones, PhD

Thomas D. Jones, PhD is a former NASA astronaut, scientist, speaker, author, and consultant. He holds a doctorate in planetary sciences, and in more than eleven years with NASA, flew on four space shuttle missions to Earth orbit. On his last flight in 2001, Dr. Jones led three spacewalks to install the centerpiece of the International Space Station, the American Destiny laboratory. He has been privileged to spend fifty-three days working and living in space.

Tom is a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force Academy. He piloted B-52D strategic bombers, studied asteroids for NASA, engineered intelligence-gathering systems for the CIA, and helped develop advanced mission concepts to explore the solar system prior to joining NASA’s astronaut corps.

Tom writes frequently about space exploration and aviation history in magazines such as Air and Space Smithsonian, Aerospace America, and Popular Mechanics. He is the co-author of two books for young adults: Mission: Earth and The Scholastic Encyclopedia of the United States at War. He co-wrote the popular Complete Idiot’s Guide to NASA. Tom’s newest title is Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir, published in 2006 by Smithsonian Books-Collins. The Wall Street Journal selected Sky Walking as one of the five best books about space.

Dr. Jones’ awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, four NASA Space Flight Medals, the NASA Exceptional Service Award, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

Tom is a member of the NASA Advisory Council, a group providing expert counsel to the Administrator about the space agency’s direction and challenges. Active in the current debate over the future direction of America’s space exploration program, Tom serves as a regular on-air contributor for Fox News Channel’s spaceflight coverage.

Edgar Mitchell

On January 31, 1971, Navy Captain Dr. Edgar Mitchell embarked on a journey into outer space that resulted in becoming the sixth man to walk on the moon. The Apollo 14 mission was NASA's third manned lunar landing. This historic journey ended safely nine days later on February 9, 1971. It was an audacious time in the history of mankind. For Mitchell, however, the most extraordinary journey was yet to come.

As he hurtled earthward through the abyss between the two worlds, Mitchell became engulfed by a profound sensation "a sense of universal connectedness." He intuitively sensed that his presence, that of his fellow astronauts, and that of the planet in the window were all part of a deliberate, universal process and that the glittering cosmos itself was in some way conscious. The experience was so overwhelming Mitchell knew his life would never be the same.

Scientist, test pilot, naval officer, astronaut, entrepreneur, author and lecturer, Dr. Mitchell's extraordinary career personifies humankind's eternal thrust to widen its horizons as well as its inner soul.

His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University, a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and a Doctor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. In addition he has received honorary doctorates in engineering from New Mexico State University, the University of Akron, Carnegie Mellon University and a ScD from Embry-Riddle University.

Dr. Mitchell has received many awards and honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the USN Distinguished Medal and three NASA Group Achievement Awards. He was inducted to the Space Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1998.

After retiring from the Navy in 1972, Dr. Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences to sponsor research into the nature of consciousness as it relates to cosmology and causality. In 1984, he was a co-founder of the Association of Space Explorers, an international organization of those who have experienced space travel.

He is the author of "Psychic Exploration," 1974, "The Way of the Explorer," 1996, (revised edition, 2001) as well as dozens of articles in both professional and popular periodicals. He has spent the last 30 years studying human consciousness and psychic and paranormal phenomena in the search for a common ground between science and spirit.

Walter M. Schirra

On the evening of May 2, 2007, I lost an adorable dear friend. Our nation lost a pioneering space traveler, and a great American hero. The world lost an extraordinary explorer whose life's drive and passions changed our world forever.

Wally's bio speaks for itself as to what an amazing person he was, but knowing Wally as a person, those amazing accomplishments paled in comparison to the man we knew and loved. Wally lit up a room, filled it with laughter, joy and warmth. His inner strength, passion and drive earned him respect and admiration both personally and professionally. There will never be another like you Wally. I will forever miss you Rocketman!

Captain Walter Schirra was one of the seven Mercury Astronauts named by NASA in April 1959. On October 3, 1962, he piloted the six orbit Sigma 7 Mercury flight, a flight which lasted 9 hours, 15 minutes. The spacecraft attained a velocity of 17,557 miles per hour at an altitude of 175 statue miles and traveled almost 144,000 statute miles before re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Recovery of the Sigma 7 spacecraft occurred in the Pacific Ocean about 275 miles northeast of Midway Island.

Schirra next served as backup command pilot for the Gemini III Mission and on December 15-16, occupied the Command Pilot seat on the history-making Gemini 6 flight. The highlight of this mission was a successful rendezvous of Gemini 6 with the already orbiting Gemini 7 spacecraft, thus, accomplishing the first rendezvous of two manned maneuverable spacecraft and establishing another space first for the United States. Known as a "text book" pilot, Schirra remained in the spacecraft following his Mercury and Gemini flight and is the first Astronaut to be brought aboard recovery ships twice in this manner. With him on Gemini 6, was Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford.

He was the Command Pilot on Apollo VII, the first manned flight test of the three direction United States spacecraft. Apollo VII began on October 11, 1968, with Command Module Pilot Donn F. Eisele and Lunar Module Pilot Walter Cunningham. Schirra participated in, and executed, maneuvers enabling crew members to perform exercises in transposition and docking and orbit rendezvous with the S-IVB stage from the Saturn IB launch vehicle. The mission completed eight successful tests and maneuvering ignitions of the service module propulsion engine, measured the accuracy of performance of all spacecraft systems, and provided the first effective television transmission of on-board crew activities. Apollo VII was placed in an orbit with an apogee of 153.5 nautical miles and a perigee of 122.6 nautical miles.

The 260 hour 4.5 million mile shake down flight was concluded on October 22, with splashdown occurring in the Atlantic some 8 miles from the carrier Essex (only 3/10 of a mile from the originally predicted aiming point). Captain Schirra has logged a total of 295 hours in space. He is unique in that he is the only Astronaut to have flown Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.

Richard Searfoss

As one of less than a hundred people ever who have actually ever commanded a human space mission, Rick Searfoss speaks on leadership, teamwork, and personal performance with authority born of in-depth personal experience. He has piloted two Space Shuttle missions and commanded a third, with over 939 hours in space and 5400 hours flying time in 61 different types of aircraft. His first space flight in 1993 set the record for the longest duration Space Shuttle mission. In 1996 he piloted Atlantis to the Russian space station Mir.

With the STS-90 "Neurolab" mission on Columbia in 1998, Rick commanded the most complex scientific research space mission ever flown, with unparalleled mission success. Rick has over twenty-five years experience as a leader in some of the most demanding team endeavors possible - human space flight, test flying, and tactical military aviation. Unsurpassed credibility and experience coupled with out-of-this-world speaking skills!

Colonel Searfoss was the number one graduate in his United States Air Force Academy class overall, academically, in engineering, and in the Aeronautical Engineering major. He later earned a graduate degree from the California Institute of Technology on a National Science Foundation Fellowship. Outstanding Young Men of America, distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons (Top Gun) School and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. His many awards include F-111 Instructor Pilot of the Year, Air Force Aero Propulsion Laboratory Excellence in Turbine Engine Design Award, Distinguished Flying Cross, Defense Superior Service Medal, and NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. Top results through dedicated effort and commitment. Rick brings that same dedication to enthusiastically sharing the principles of success with every group he meets.

Beyond the unique professional experiences he has enjoyed, Rick's incredibly supportive wife and three daughters keep him focused on what's truly important: faith, family and service beyond self. His varied outside interests include running, backpacking, model airplanes, soccer, science fiction, and classical music. With compelling firsthand examples from richly rewarding professional and personal experiences, Rick speaks from the heart to teach, motivate, enlighten, and uplift audiences and fulfill his personal mission: "Sharing the achievement, teamwork, and leadership lessons of human space flight while bringing the wonder of Space to Earth for all to enjoy."

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