Charles Moss Duke Jr. (born October 3, 1935) is an American former
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
,
United States Air Force (USAF) officer and
test pilot. As
Lunar Module
The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...
pilot of
Apollo 16 in 1972, he became the
tenth and youngest person to walk on the Moon, at age 36 years and 201 days.
[ Duke remains the youngest person to walk on the Moon.]
A 1957 graduate of the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...
, he joined the USAF. He completed advanced flight training on the
F-86 Sabre at
Moody Air Force Base
Moody Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation near Valdosta, Georgia.
Geography
The base is in northeastern Lowndes County, Georgia, with the eastern border of the base following the Lanier County line. Georgia State Rou ...
in Georgia, where he was a distinguished graduate. After completion of this training, Duke served three years as a fighter pilot with the
526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
The 526th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 86th Operations Group, based at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It was inactivated on 1 July 1994.
History
World War II
Initially activated ...
at
Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and al ...
in