US

Fourth man to walk on the Moon, Alan Bean, dies aged 86

Bean was lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, which made second Moon landing in 1969

Astronaut Alan L Bean holds a special environmental sample container filled with lunar soil collected during the Apollo 12 mission in this Nasa handout photo from November 19th, 1969. File photograph: Nasa/Handout/Reuters
Astronaut Alan L Bean holds a special environmental sample container filled with lunar soil collected during the Apollo 12 mission in this Nasa handout photo from November 19th, 1969. File photograph: Nasa/Handout/Reuters
Sat May 26 2018 - 21:05

US astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the Moon, has died.

A statement released by Nasa and family members said Bean died on Saturday in Houston after a short illness. He was 86.

Bean was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, which made the second Moon landing in 1969.

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He then commanded the second crewed flight to the first United States space station, Skylab, in 1973.

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On that mission, he orbited the Earth for 59 days.

Bean spent a total of 69 days in space, including 31 hours on the Moon.

His wife of 40 years, Leslie Bean, said in the statement he died peacefully surrounded by those who loved him. – Associated Press