  stuart allen "stu" roosa (august 16, 1933 â december 12, 1994), (col, usaf), was an american aeronautical engineer, united states air force pilot, test pilot, and nasa astronaut, who was the command module pilot for the apollo 14 mission. the mission lasted from january 31 to february 9, 1971 and was the third mission to land astronauts (alan shepard and edgar mitchell) on the moon. while shepard and mitchell spent two days on the lunar surface, roosa conducted experiments from orbit in the command module "kitty hawk". he was one of only 24 people to travel to the moon. ==biography== ===early life and education=== roosa was born on august 16, 1933, in durango, colorado, and grew up in claremore, oklahoma. he attended justus grade school and claremore high school in claremore, oklahoma, from which he graduated in 1951; studied at oklahoma state university and the university of arizona and was graduated with honors and a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the university of colorado boulder in 1960. ===military service=== roosa began his career as a smokejumper with the u.s. forest service, dropping into at least four active fires in oregon and california during the 1953 fire season. he was a graduate of the aviation cadet program at williams air force base, arizona, where he received his flight training commission in the u.s. air force. he also attended the aerospace research pilots school and was an experimental test pilot at edwards air force base in california before being selected for the astronaut class of 1966. from july 1962 to august 1964, roosa was a maintenance flight test pilot at olmstead air force base, pa, flying f-101 aircraft. he was a fighter pilot at langley air force base, va, where
1933_births 1971_in_spaceflight 1994_deaths Air_Force_Institute_of_Technology_alumni American_astronauts American_aviators Apollo_program_astronauts Aviators_from_Colorado Burials_at_Arlington_National_Cemetery Deaths_from_pancreatitis Oklahoma_State_University_alumni People_from_Claremore,_Oklahoma People_from_Durango,_Colorado Recipients_of_the_Distinguished_Service_Medal_(United_States) Recipients_of_the_NASA_Distinguished_Service_Medal U.S._Air_Force_Test_Pilot_School_alumni United_States_Air_Force_astronauts United_States_Air_Force_officers United_States_Astronaut_Hall_of_Fame_inductees University_of_Arizona_alumni University_of_Colorado_alumni