Alan LaVern Bean was an American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, NASA astronaut and painter. He was selected to become an astronaut by NASA in 1963 as part of Astronaut Group 3, and was the fourth person to walk on the Moon.
Alan Bean
Bean during suiting-up for Apollo 12 flight
Bean on the Moon during Apollo 12
Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon, and Alan Bean pose with their Apollo 12 Saturn V Moon rocket in the background on the pad at Cape Canaveral on October 29, 1969
NASA Astronaut Group 3—'The Fourteen'—was a group of fourteen astronauts selected by NASA for the Gemini and Apollo program. Their selection was announced in October 1963. Seven were from the United States Air Force, four from the United States Navy, one was from the United States Marine Corps and two were civilians. Four died in training accidents before they could fly in space. All of the surviving ten flew Apollo missions; five also flew Gemini missions. Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Gene Cernan and David Scott walked on the Moon.
Group 3 astronauts. Back row, left to right: Collins, Cunningham, Eisele, Freeman, Gordon, Schweickart, Scott, Williams. Front row, left to right: Aldrin, Anders, Bassett, Bean, Cernan, Chaffee.
U.S. Survey Geologist E. Dale Jackson, (left), with Astronauts (left to right) Bill Anders, Richard Gordon, Neil Armstrong and Donn Eisele during Geological Training in Grand Canyon, Arizona.
Image: Astronaut Edwin E. Buzz Aldrin Jr
Image: William Anders
