David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired
test pilot
A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...
and
NASA astronaut who was the
seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the
third group of
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
s in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and commanded
Apollo 15, the fourth lunar landing; he is one of four surviving Moon walkers and the only living commander of a spacecraft that landed on the Moon.
Before becoming an astronaut, Scott graduated from the
United States Military Academy at West Point and joined the Air Force. After serving as a fighter pilot in Europe, he graduated from the
Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School (Class 62C) and the
Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class IV). Scott retired from the Air Force in 1975 with the rank of colonel, and more than 5,600 hours of logged flying time.
As an astronaut, Scott made his first flight into
space
Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
as a pilot of the
Gemini 8 mission, along with
Neil Armstrong, in March 1966, spending just under eleven hours in
low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...
. He would have been the second American astronaut to walk in space had Gemini8 not made an emergency abort. Scott then spent ten days in orbit in March 1969 as
Command Module Pilot of
Apollo 9, a mission that extensively tested the Apollo spacecraft, along with Commander
James McDivitt
James Alton McDivitt Jr. (June 10, 1929 – October 13, 2022) was an American test pilot, United States Air Force (USAF) pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut in the Project Gemini, Gemini and Apollo programs. He joined the USAF in ...
and
Lunar Module Pilot
Rusty Schweickart.
After backing up
Apollo 12, Scott made his third and final flight into space as commander of the Apollo15 mission, the fourth crewed lunar landing and the first J mission. Scott and
James Irwin
James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force Aviator, pilot. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landin ...
remained on the Moon for three days. Following their return to Earth, Scott and his crewmates fell from favor with NASA after it was disclosed that
they had carried four hundred unauthorized postal covers to the Moon. After serving as director of NASA's
Dryden Flight Research Center in California, Scott retired from the agency in 1977. Since then, he has worked on space-related projects and served as a consultant for several films about the space program, including
''Apollo13''.
Early life and education
Scott was born June 6, 1932, at
Randolph Field (for which he received his middle name) near
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
. His father was
Tom William Scott (1902–1988), a
fighter pilot
A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...
in the
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...
who would rise to the rank of
brigadier general; his mother was Marian Scott (; 1904–1999). Scott lived his earliest years at Randolph Field, where his father was stationed, before moving to an air base in Indiana, and then in 1936 to Manila in the Philippines,
then under U.S. rule. David remembered his father as a strict disciplinarian. The family returned to the United States in December 1939. By the time of the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
in 1941, the family was living in San Antonio again; shortly thereafter Tom Scott was deployed overseas.
As it was felt that he needed more discipline than he would receive with his father gone for three years, David was sent to
Texas Military Institute, spending his summers at
Hermosa Beach
Hermosa Beach (, Spanish language, Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 19,728 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Ba ...
in California with his father's college friend, David Shattuck, after whom he had been named. Determined to become a pilot like his father, David built many
model airplanes and watched with fascination war films about flying. By the time of Tom Scott's return, David was old enough to be allowed to go up in a military aircraft with him, and in David Scott's autobiography remembered it as "the most exciting thing I had ever experienced".
David Scott was active in the
Boy Scouts of America
Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...
, achieving its second-highest rank,
Life Scout. With Tom Scott assigned to
March Air Force Base near
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...
, David attended
Riverside Polytechnic High School, where he joined the swimming team and set several state and local records. Before David could finish high school, Tom Scott was transferred to Washington, D.C., and after some discussion as to whether he should remain in California to graduate, David attended Western High School in Washington, graduating in June 1949.
David Scott wanted an appointment to the
United States Military Academy at West Point but lacked connections to secure one. He took a government
civil service examination for competitive appointments and accepted a swimming scholarship to the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
where he was an honor student in the
engineering school. In the spring of 1950, he received and accepted an invitation to attend West Point. Scott attended Michigan on a swimming scholarship, set a freshman record in the 440-yard
freestyle, and the team captain during Scott's year there, Jack Craigie, recalled that the West Point swimming coach, Gordon Chalmers, was happy to get Scott from Michigan, one of the dominant programs of the time.
Scott still wanted to fly and wanted to be commissioned in the newly established
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
(USAF). The
Air Force Academy
An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...
was founded in 1954, the year Scott graduated from West Point; an interim arrangement had been made whereby a quarter of West Point and
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) 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 United States Secre ...
graduates could volunteer to be commissioned as Air Force officers. Earning a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in
military science
Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mi ...
, Scott graduated 5th in his class of 633 and was commissioned in the Air Force.
Air Force pilot
Scott did six months of primary pilot training at
Marana Air Base in Arizona, beginning there in July 1954. He completed
Undergraduate Pilot Training at
Webb Air Force Base, Texas, in 1955, then went through gunnery training at
Laughlin Air Force Base
Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located east of Del Rio, Texas.
Overview
Laughlin AFB, the largest Aviator, pilot training base in the US Air Force, is home to the 47th Flying Training Wing of the Air Educa ...
, Texas, and
Luke Air Force Base
Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States., effective 20 December 2007 It is located west of the central business district of Glendale, Arizona, Glendale, and west of Phoenix, Arizona, P ...
, Arizona.
From April 1956 to July 1960, Scott flew with the
32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron at
Soesterberg Air Base, Netherlands, flying
F-86 Sabres and
F-100 Super Sabres.
The weather there was often poor, and Scott's piloting skills were tested. Once, he had to land his plane on a golf course after a
flameout. On another, he barely made it to a Dutch base on the edge of the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
. Scott served in Europe during the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
and tensions were often high between the U.S. and Soviet Union. During the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956, his squadron was placed on the highest alert for weeks but was stood down without going into combat.
Scott hoped to advance his career by becoming a
test pilot
A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...
, to be trained at
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...
. He was counseled that the best way to get into test pilot school was to gain a graduate degree in
aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere.
While the term originally referred ...
. Accordingly, he applied to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
(MIT) and was accepted. He received both a
Master of Science
A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...
degree in Aeronautics/Astronautics and the degree of
Engineer in Aeronautics/Astronautics (the E.A.A. degree) from MIT in 1962.
After receiving these degrees, Scott was stunned to receive orders from the Air Force to report to the new
Air Force Academy
An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...
as a professor, rather than to test pilot school. Although challenging orders was strongly discouraged, Scott went to
the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
and found a sympathetic ear from a colonel. Scott received changed orders to report to Edwards.
Scott reported to the
Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School at Edwards in July 1962. The commandant of the school was
Chuck Yeager, the first person to break the sound barrier, whom Scott idolized; Scott got to fly several times with him. Scott graduated top pilot in his class. He was selected for the
Aerospace Research Pilot School, also at Edwards, where those intended as Air Force astronauts were trained. There he learned how to control aircraft, such as the
Lockheed NF-104A, at altitudes of up to .
NASA career
In applying to be part of the
third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott intended only a temporary detour from a mainstream military career; he expected to fly in space a couple of times and then return to the Air Force. He was accepted as one of the fourteen Group3 astronauts later that year.
Scott's initial assignment was as an astronaut representative at MIT supervising the development of the
Apollo Guidance Computer. He spent most of 1964 and 1965 in residence in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
. He served as backup
CAPCOM
is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
during
Gemini 4 and as a CAPCOM during
Gemini 5.
Gemini 8
After the conclusion of
Gemini 5, Director of Flight Crew Operations
Deke Slayton informed Scott that he would fly with
Neil Armstrong on
Gemini 8. This made Scott the first Group3 astronaut to become a member of a prime crew, and this without having served on a backup crew. Scott was highly regarded by his colleagues for his piloting credentials; another Group3 astronaut,
Michael Collins, wrote later that Scott's selection to fly with Armstrong helped convince him that NASA knew what it was doing.
Scott found Armstrong something of a taskmaster, but the two men greatly respected each other and worked well together. They spent most of the seven months before launch in each other's company. One part of the training that Scott undertook without Armstrong was riding the
Vomit Comet, where he practiced in preparation for a planned
spacewalk.
On March 16, 1966, Armstrong and Scott were launched into space, a flight originally planned to last three days. The
Agena rocket with which they were to dock had been launched an hour and forty minutes earlier. They carefully approached and docked with the Agena, the first docking ever accomplished in space. However, after the docking, there was unexpected movement by the joined craft. Mission Control was out of touch during this portion of the orbit, and the astronauts' belief that the Agena was causing the problem proved incorrect, for once they performed an emergency undocking, the spin only got worse. With the spacecraft spinning, there was a risk of the astronauts blacking out or the Gemini vehicle disintegrating. The problem was one of the craft's
Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System (OAMS) thrusters firing unexpectedly; the crew shut down those thrusters, and Armstrong activated the
Reaction Control System
A reaction control system (RCS) is a spacecraft system that uses Thrusters (spacecraft), thrusters to provide Spacecraft attitude control, attitude control and translation (physics), translation. Alternatively, reaction wheels can be used for at ...
(RCS) thrusters to negate the spin. The RCS thrusters were to be used for reentry, and the mission rules said if they were activated early, Gemini8 had to return to Earth. Gemini8 splashed down in the
Western Pacific on the day of launch; the mission lasted only ten hours, and the early termination meant that Scott's spacewalk was scrubbed.
According to
Francis French and
Colin Burgess in their book on NASA and the
Space Race
The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...
, "Scott, in particular, had shown incredible presence of mind during the unexpected events of the Gemini8 mission. Even in the middle of an emergency, out of contact with Mission Control, he had thought to reenable ground control command of the Agena before the two vehicles separated." This allowed NASA to check the Agena from the ground, and use it for a subsequent Gemini mission. Scott's competence was recognized by NASA when, five days after the brief flight, he was assigned to an
Apollo crew. Along with Armstrong, Scott received the
NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and the Air Force awarded him the
Distinguished Flying Cross as well. He was also promoted to
lieutenant colonel.
Apollo 9
Scott's Apollo assignment was as backup senior pilot/navigator for what would become known as
Apollo 1, scheduled for launch in February 1967, with
Jim McDivitt
Jim or JIM may refer to:
Names
* Jim (given name)
Jim is a given name or a hypocorism of the given name James (name), James or Jimena, and a short form of Jimmy.
People
* Jim Acosta (born 1971), American journalist
* Jim Adkins (born 1975), Am ...
as backup commander and
Russell Schweickart as pilot. In that capacity, they spent much of their time at
North American Rockwell's plant in
Downey, California, where the
command and service module (CSM) for that mission was under construction.
By January 1967, Scott's crew had been assigned as prime crew for a subsequent Apollo mission and were at Downey on January 27 when a fire took the lives of the Apollo1 prime crew during a pre-launch test. During the fire, the inward-opening hatch had proved impossible for the astronauts to open, and Scott's post-fire assignment, with all flights put on hold amid a complete review of the Apollo program, was to serve on the team designing a simpler, outward-opening hatch.
After the pause, Scott's crew was assigned to
Apollo 8
Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Sphere of influence (astrodynamics), Earth's gravitational sphere of influence, and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times ...
, intended to be an Earth-orbit test of the full Apollo spacecraft, including the
Lunar Module (LM). There were delays in the development of the lunar module and in August 1968, NASA official
George Low
George Michael Low (born Georg Michael Löw; June 10, 1926 – July 17, 1984) was an administrator at NASA and the 14th president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Low was one of the senior NASA officials who made decisions as manager ...
proposed that if
Apollo 7 in October went well, Apollo8 should go to lunar orbit without a Lunar Module, so as not to hold up the program. The Earth-orbit test would become Apollo9. McDivitt was offered Apollo8 by Slayton, but turned it down on behalf of his crew (who fully agreed), preferring to wait for
Apollo 9, which would involve extensive testing of the spacecraft and was dubbed "a test pilot's dream".
As
command module pilot for Apollo9 Scott's responsibilities were heavy. The LM was to separate from the CSM during the mission; if it failed to return, Scott would have to run the entire spacecraft for reentry, normally a three-man job. He would also have to go rescue the LM if it could not perform the rendezvous, and if it could not dock, would have to assist McDivitt and Schweickart in performing an
extravehicular activity
Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environme ...
(EVA) or spacewalk, back to the CSM. Scott was somewhat unhappy, though, that CSM-103, which he had worked on extensively, would stay with Apollo8, with Apollo9 given CSM-104.

The planned February 28, 1969, launch date was postponed as all three astronauts had head colds, and NASA was wary of medical issues in space after problems on Apollo7 and Apollo8. The launch took place on March 3, 1969. Within hours of launch, Scott had performed a maneuver essential to the lunar landing by piloting the CSM ''Gumdrop'' away from the
S-IVB rocket stage, then turned ''Gumdrop'' around and docked with the LM ''Spider'' still attached to the S-IVB, before the combined spacecraft separated from the rocket.
Schweickart vomited twice on the third day in space, suffering from
space adaptation syndrome. He was supposed to do a spacewalk from the LM's hatch to that of the CM the following day, proving that this could be done under emergency conditions, but because of concerns about his condition, simply exited the LM while Scott stood in the CM's hatch, bringing in experiments and photographing Schweickart. On the fifth day in space, March 7, McDivitt and Schweickart in the LM ''Spider'' flew away from the CSM while Scott remained in ''Gumdrop'', making him the first American astronaut to be alone in space since the
Mercury program. After the redocking, ''Spider'' was jettisoned. The LM had gone over 100 miles (160km) from the CSM during the test.
The remainder of the mission was devoted to tests of the command module, mostly performed by Scott; Schweickart called these days "Dave Scott's mission"; McDivitt and Schweickart had much time to observe the Earth as Scott worked. The mission stayed in space one orbit longer than planned due to rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean recovery zone. Apollo9 splashed down on March 13, 1969, less than four nautical miles (7km) from the helicopter carrier
USS ''Guadalcanal'',
east of the Bahamas.
Apollo 15
Scott was deemed to have performed his duties well, and on April 10, 1969, was named backup commander of
Apollo 12, with
Al Worden as command module pilot and
James Irwin
James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force Aviator, pilot. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landin ...
as lunar module pilot. McDivitt had chosen to go into NASA management, and Slayton had seen Scott as a potential crew commander; Worden and Irwin were working on the support crews for Apollo9 and Apollo10, respectively. Schweickart was ruled out due to the space sickness episode. This put the three in line to be the prime crew for
Apollo 15. Scott's status as backup commander of the next flight allowed him to sit in the Mission Control room as
Apollo 11, with his old crewmate Armstrong in command, landed on the Moon. That Scott, Worden, and Irwin would be the crew of Apollo15 was announced on March 26, 1970.
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo program and the fourth Moon landing. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greate ...
would be the first
J Mission, which emphasized scientific research, with longer stays on the Moon's surface and the use of the
Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). Already having an interest in geology, Scott made time during the training for his crew to go on field trips with
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...
geologist
Lee Silver. The scientists were divided over where Apollo15 should land; Scott's argument for the area of
Hadley Rille
Hadley may refer to:
Places Earth Canada
* Hadley Bay, on the north of Victoria Island, Nunavut England
* Hadley, London, a former civil parish within Barnet Urban District from 1894 to 1965
* Hadley, Shropshire, part of the new town of T ...
won the day. As time dwindled towards the launch date, Scott pushed to make the field trips more like what they would encounter on the lunar surface, with mock backpacks simulating what they would wear on the Moon, and from November 1970 onwards, the training version of the LRV.
Apollo 15 launched from
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...
's Launch Complex 39A on July 26, 1971. The outward flight to the Moon's orbit saw only minor difficulties, and the mission entered lunar orbit without incident.
The descent to the Moon by the LM ''Falcon'', with Scott and Irwin aboard, took place on July 30, with Scott as commander attempting the landing. Following difficulties caused by the computer-controlled flight path being to the south of what was planned, Scott assumed manual control for the final descent, and successfully landed the ''Falcon'' within the designated landing zone.
After landing, Scott and Irwin donned the helmets and gloves of their pressure suits and Scott performed the first and only stand-up EVA on the lunar surface, by poking his head and upper body out of the docking port on top of the LM. He took panoramic photographs of the surrounding area from an elevated position and scouted the terrain they would be driving across the next day.
After deploying the LRV from its folded-up position on the side of the LM's descent stage, Scott drove with Irwin in the direction of Hadley Rille. Once there, Scott marveled at the beauty of the scene. While their exploits were followed by a television camera mounted on the rover and controlled from Earth, Scott and Irwin took samples of the lunar surface, including the rock
Great Scott named after the astronaut, before returning to the LM to set up the
ALSEP, the experiments that were to continue to run after their departure.
The second traverse, the following day (August 1) was to the slope of
Mount Hadley Delta. At
Spur Crater, they discovered one of the most famous lunar samples, a
plagioclase
Plagioclase ( ) is a series of Silicate minerals#Tectosilicates, tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continu ...
-rich
anorthosite
Anorthosite () is a phaneritic, intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock characterized by its composition: mostly plagioclase feldspar (90–100%), with a minimal mafic component (0–10%). Pyroxene, ilmenite, magnetite, and olivine are the mafic ...
from the early lunar crust, that was later dubbed the
Genesis Rock
The Genesis Rock (sample 15415) is a sample of Moon rock retrieved by Apollo 15 astronauts James Irwin and David Scott in 1971 during the second lunar extravehicular activity, EVA, at Spur (lunar crater), Spur crater on Earth's Moon. With a mass ...
by the press. On the third day, August 2, they went on their final moonwalk, an excursion cut short by problems with retrieving a core sample. On their return to the LM, Scott, before the television camera, dropped a hammer and a feather to demonstrate
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
's theory that objects in a vacuum will drop at the same rate. After driving the LRV to a position where the camera could view ''Falcon'' takeoff, Scott left a memorial to the astronauts and cosmonauts who had died to advance space exploration. This consisted of a plaque bearing their names, and a small aluminum sculpture, ''
Fallen Astronaut
''Fallen Astronaut'' is a aluminum sculpture created by Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck. It is a stylized figure of an astronaut in a spacesuit, intended to commemorate the astronauts and Astronaut#Cosmonaut, cosmonauts who have died in t ...
'', by Paul Van Hoeydonck. Once this was done, Scott re-entered the LM, and soon thereafter, ''Falcon'' lifted off from the Moon.
Apollo 15 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean north of Honolulu on August 7, 1971. The first crew to land on the Moon and not be quarantined on return, the astronauts were flown to Houston, and after debriefing, were sent off on the usual circuit of addresses to Congress, celebrations, and foreign trips that met returning Apollo astronauts. Scott regretted the lack of quarantine, which he felt would have given them time to recover from the flight, as the demands on their time were heavy.
Postal covers incident

The crew had arranged with a friend named Horst Eiermann to carry postal covers to the Moon in exchange for about $7,000 for each astronaut. Slayton had issued regulations that personal items taken in spacecraft must be listed for his approval; which was not done for the covers. Scott carried the covers into the CM in his spacesuit; they were transferred to the LM en route to the Moon and landed there with the astronauts. Scott sent 100 of them to Eiermann, and in late 1971, against the astronauts' wishes, the covers were offered for sale by West German stamp dealer Hermann Sieger. The astronauts returned the money, but in April 1972, Slayton learned of the unauthorized covers and had Scott, Worden, and Irwin removed as backup crew members for
Apollo 17. The matter became public in June 1972, and the astronauts were reprimanded for poor judgment by NASA and the Air Force the following month. The covers that the crew still had were initially impounded by NASA but were in 1983 returned to the astronauts in an out-of-court settlement, as the government felt it could not successfully defend the lawsuit, and that NASA either authorized the covers to be flown or was aware of them.
The press release that announced the reprimands, dated July 11, 1972, stated that the astronauts' "actions will be given due consideration in their selection for future assignment", something that made it extremely unlikely that they would be selected to fly in space again. ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' reported that "there are no forthcoming missions for which he
cottis being considered". Scott related in his autobiography that
Alan Shepard, then head of the
Astronaut Office, had offered him the choice between backing up Apollo17 or serving as a special assistant on the
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first joint mission with the Soviet Union; Scott had chosen the latter. Although a NASA spokesman had stated that Scott had no choice but to leave the Astronaut Corps, and this was reproduced in the press, Slayton's supervisor,
Christopher C. Kraft, stated that the Public Affairs Office at NASA had erred, and the transfer was not a further rebuke.
NASA management
In his role with Apollo-Soyuz, Scott traveled to
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, leading a team of technical experts. There he met the commander of the Soviet part of the mission,
Alexei Leonov, with whom he would later write a joint autobiography. In 1973 Scott was offered the job of deputy director of NASA's
Dryden Flight Research Center, located at Edwards, a place Scott had long loved. This allowed Scott to fly aircraft that reached the edge of space, and let him renew his acquaintance with the retired Chuck Yeager who was there as a consulting test pilot, and to whom Scott granted flying privileges.
On April 18, 1975, at age 42, Scott became the Center Director at Dryden.
This was a civilian appointment, and to accept it, Scott retired from the Air Force in March 1975 with the rank of
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
. Kraft wrote in his memoirs that Scott's appointment "pissed off Deke to his eyebrows". Scott found the work interesting and exciting, but with budget cuts and the forthcoming end of
Approach and Landing Tests for the
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
, in 1977 he decided it was time to leave NASA and retired from the agency on September 30, 1977.
Post-NASA career

Entering the private sector, Scott founded Scott Science and Technology, Inc.
In the late 1970s and the 1980s, Scott worked on several government projects, including designing the astronaut training for a proposed Air Force version of the Space Shuttle. One of Scott's firms went out of business after the 1986
''Challenger'' disaster; though the company played no part in the disaster, subsequent redesign of parts of the shuttle eliminated Scott's firm's role.
After ''Challenger'', Scott served four years on the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, formed to advise the
Secretary of Transportation on the possible conversion of
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
s to launch vehicles.
In 1992 Scott was found by a
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827.
In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona Territory, r ...
, court to have defrauded nine investors in a partnership organized by him.
He was ordered to pay roughly $400,000 to investors in the partnership, which was to create technology to prevent aircraft mechanical breakdowns, but which was never developed.
Scott was a commentator for British television on the first
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
flight (
STS-1) in April 1981.
He also was a consultant on the film ''
Apollo13'' and for the 1998
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
miniseries
In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
''
From the Earth to the Moon
''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' () is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil War society of weapons enthusiasts, and their attempts to build an en ...
'',
in which he was portrayed by
Brett Cullen. Scott consulted on the 3D IMAX film,
''Magnificent Desolation'' (2005), showing Apollo astronauts on the Moon, and produced by
Tom Hanks and the IMAX Corporation.
He is one of the astronauts featured in the 2007
book
A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
and documentary ''
In the Shadow of the Moon''.

From 2003 to 2004, Scott was a consultant on the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
TV series ''
Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets''. In 2004, he and Leonov began work on a dual biography/history of the "Space Race" between the United States and the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The book, ''Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race'', was published in 2006. Armstrong and Hanks both wrote introductions to the book. Scott has worked on the Brown University science teams for the
Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter. For NASA, he has worked on the 500-Day Lunar Exploration Study and as a collaborator on the research investigation entitled "Advanced Visualization in Solar System Exploration and Research (ADVISER): Optimizing the Science Return from the Moon and Mars".
Scott had taken two
Bulova timepieces, a wristwatch and a stopwatch, with him to the Moon without advance authorization from Slayton. Scott wore the wristwatch on the third EVA, after his NASA-issued
Omega Speedmaster lost its crystal. He sold the Bulova watch in 2015 for $1.625million, after which the company marketed similar timepieces, whose accompanying material mentioned Scott and Apollo15. Scott sued in federal court in 2017, alleging Bulova and
Kay Jewelers were wrongfully using his name and image for commercial purposes, and in April 2018, a
federal magistrate ruled he could proceed on some of his claims. The case was dismissed by agreement of the parties in August 2018, and in 2021, Bulova marked the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo15 with the issuance of a commemorative watch.
Personal life

In 1959 Scott married his first wife, Ann Lurton Ott. They had two children. In 2000, it was reported that he was engaged to British TV presenter
Anna Ford; at the time he was still married to Ann Scott, although separated. His relationship with Ford had begun in 1999.
By 2001, Scott and Ford had separated. He subsequently married Margaret Black, former vice-chairman of
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...
.
David Scott and Margaret Black-Scott reside in Los Angeles.
Awards, honors, and organizations
Deputy Administrator
Robert Seamans presented Scott and Armstrong the
NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1966 for their Gemini flight.
Scott was also awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for the Gemini8 flight.
Vice President Spiro Agnew presented the Apollo9 crew with the
NASA Distinguished Service Medal. At the ceremony, Agnew said, "I am proud that America has forged to the forefront and established the leadership in space to match our new leadership on Earth." Scott received the
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal for the Apollo9 mission.
Agnew also gave the Apollo 15 crew the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Scott earned his second Air Force Distinguished Service Medal for Apollo15.
On September 15, 1971, the city of Chicago hosted the Apollo15 crew in a parade attended by more than 200,000 people. Mayor
Daley presented the crew with honorary citizenship medals. On August 25, 1971, the Apollo15 crew were honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City. The city bestowed them with gold medals. Later that day, U.N. Secretary General Thant awarded the trio the first
United Nations Peace Medal. At the
Air Force Association's annual dinner dance in September 1971, the Apollo15 crew were presented with the David C. Schilling Trophy, the association's top flight award. Scott presented the Air Force and Air Force Association with items they flew to the Moon: sheet music of "
Into the Wild Blue Yonder" and a U.S. Air Force flag. The Apollo15 crew and
Robert Gilruth (director of the Manned Spacecraft Center) were awarded the 1971
Robert J. Collier Trophy, an annual award for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics. Scott received the
De la Vaulx Medal, the Gold Space Medal, and the V.M. Komorav Diploma from for 1971 for his role in the Apollo15 flight. Scott was awarded his third NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1978.
Scott, Worden, and Irwin were granted honorary Doctorates of Astronautical Science from the University of Michigan in 1971. Scott was awarded an honorary doctor of science and technology degree from
Jacksonville University in 2013. It was the first honorary degree bestowed by the university.
Scott is a
fellow
A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
of the
American Astronautical Society, an associate fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a member of the
Society of Experimental Test Pilots,
Tau Beta Pi,
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...
, and
Sigma Gamma Tau.
In 1982 Scott was inducted with nine other Gemini astronauts into the
International Space Hall of Fame in the
New Mexico Museum of Space History.
Along with twelve other Gemini astronauts, Scott was inducted into the
U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1993.
On August 23, 2024, he received an honorary promotion to brigadier general in recognition of his service to the
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and deputy director of the
Dryden Flight Research Center.
See also
*
List of spaceflight records
Notes
References

Numbers for Worden/French and for Slayton are Kindle locations.
Sources
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External links
Astronautix biography of David R. Scott*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, David
1932 births
Living people
Military personnel from San Antonio
Aviators from Texas
Apollo 9
Apollo 15
Apollo program astronauts
NASA people
People who have walked on the Moon
20th-century American explorers
United States Air Force colonels
United States Air Force astronauts
Project Gemini astronauts
1966 in spaceflight
1969 in spaceflight
1971 in spaceflight
San Antonio Academy alumni
TMI Episcopal alumni
MIT School of Engineering alumni
U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni
United States Military Academy alumni
University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni
United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees
Collier Trophy recipients
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal
Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American engineers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American engineers
Articles containing video clips