Astronaut to speak for RetroFest celebration
By Shannon Harrison, ne news editor

     A former astronaut will touch down on NE and NW campuses later this month.
Capt. Richard Gordan, astronaut for NASA Gemini XI and Apollo XII missions, will be on NE Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m, and 9 a.m. on NW to talk to students and faculty about his flight missions.
     In 1951 Gordon received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Washington.
     He is a retired Navy captain, but he received his wings as a naval aviator in 1953. He attended an all-weather flight school and Navy’s Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md.
NASA selected Gordon as an astronaut in 1963. He made his first space flight as a pilot on the Gemini XI with Commander Charles Conrad Jr. in 1966.
     Gordon left the spacecraft for a planned 115-minute space walk, but he cut it short after 44 minutes. He had difficulty maintaining his position in weightlessness without handholds or foot restraints. This problem proved a valuable lesson for later spacewalkers.
     Gordon and Conrad were back in space together on the Apollo XII moon mission in 1969. They were accompanied by Alan Bean, a former Fort Worth resident; Neil Armstrong, William Anders, Clifton Williams Jr. and John Young.
Gordon circled 60 miles above the moon while Conrad and Bean demonstrated a pinpoint landing while parking the Lunar Module in the Ocean of Storms near an unmanned Surveyor craft that had touched down there two years earlier.
     On this mission 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. He is currently president of Space Age, America Inc.
     Gordon was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame on March 19, 1993.
For more information, contact student activities, on NE Campus at 817-515-6644 or on NW Campus at 817-515-7795.