Edgar Mitchell

Edgar Mitchell was born in Heresford, Texas, on September 17, 1930. He grew up near Roswell, New Mexico, which UFO enthusiasts believe was the site of a government cover-up. He became interested in flight at an early age, learning to fly an airplane at age 13.

Mitchell completed training at U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School, graduating first in his class. He remained there as a research pilot and instructor in advanced mathematics and navigation theory for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut candidates.

NASA selected Mitchell to be a member of its fifth group of astronauts in 1966. The road to being an astronaut wasn't an easy one for Mitchell. Applying at every opportunity, it took him nine years to make the cut.

At NASA, Mitchell worked on Project Apollo. After contributing to the Apollo 9 mission, he became backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 10. Apollo 10 successfully put astronauts Gene Cernan and Tom Stafford within 50,000 feet of the moon.

Mitchell was an important part of the Apollo 13 mission, which NASA ultimately deemed a "successful failure." While en route to the moon, there was an explosion aboard the spacecraft. NASA went into crises mode to bring the crew back to Earth alive. While most of the word was praying for the crew members, Mitchell spent most of the five days of the emergency in the lunar module simulator, creating the procedures that the crew needed to implement and then radioing the instructions to space.

NASA selected Mitchell as one of the crew members for Apollo 14. Mitchell and Alan Shepard's mission was to land on the moon and it explore while Stuart Roosa orbited the moon aboard command module Kitty Hawk. Mitchell was the sixt man to walk on the moon.

Apollo 14 was a successful mission with few complications. It set several records:

(1) Longest time spent on the lunar surface (33 hours.)

(2) Longest time spent outside the lunar module (9 hours in two excursions.)

(3) Most moon material brought back to Earth (approximately 100 pounds.)

Apollo 14 transmitted video back to Earth in color, a first for a moon mission.

Alan Shepard enjoyed extensive media coverage for being the first man to hit a golf ball on the moon, but Mitchell also engaged in an unauthorized, but preplanned activity. He took a home-made deck of Zener cards to ht moon and conducted ESP experiments. Mitchell had arranged for four people on Earth to try to correctly identify cards.

After Apollo 16, Mitchell served as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 16. He retired from NASA in 1972. The next year he founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences. According to its website its mission is: "Advancing the consciousness and human experience to serve individual and collective transformation. For most his life, Mitchell has been intensely interested in human consciousness and paranormal phenomena. Since retiring from NASA, he has delivered hundreds of speeches on the subject.

Mitchell has went on record with his assertion that Roswell was indeed a government cover-up.

Egar Mitchell was one of only twelve men to walk on the moon. His autograph is eay to find now and is still inexpensive. As the years go by, it will grow in value.

Edgar Mitchell sells autographs from his website and prices cheaper than most dealers list them.

Prices from his website:

Signed Photos: $55
Signed copies of his book Way of the Explorer: $60
Signed DVDs, The View from Space: $65

He will sign items that you send him for a base price of $50.

Sometimes autograph bargains can be found on eBay:

Edgar Mitchell on eBay


Return to Collecting Celebrity Autographs from Edgar Mitchell