Alan Bean

Alan Bean Biography:
Twelve people have walked on the moon. Only one was an explorer artist, Alan Bean the Apollo XII astronaut, commander of Skylab II and artist. Born in 1932 in Wheeler, Texas and in 1950, Alan was selected for an NROTC scholarship at the University of Texas at Austin. Alan was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy in 1955. Holder of eleven world records in space and astronautics, Alan Bean has had a most distinguished peacetime career. His awards include two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the Yuri Gagarin Gold Medal and the Robert J. Collier Trophy. As part of the Apollo XII crew, he became the fourth of only twelve men ever to walk on the Moon. As the spacecraft commander of Skylab Mission II, he set a world record: 24,400,000 miles traveled during the 59-day flight. When he wasn't flying, Bean always enjoyed painting as a hobby. Attending night classes at St. Mary's College in Maryland in 1962, Alan experimented with landscape art prints and posters.  >>click here for more