Richard F . Gordon , Jr . Richard " Dick " Francis Gordon , Jr . ( born October 5 , 1929 ) is a retired Captain in the United States Navy , and a retired NASA astronaut . He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon . Military and flight experience . Gordon was born in Seattle , Washington . He graduated from North Kitsap High School in Poulsbo , Washington , then received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Washington in 1951 . He received his wings as a Naval Aviator in 1953 . He then attended All - Weather Flight School and jet transitional training , and was subsequently assigned to an all - weather fighter squadron at Jacksonville , Florida . In 1957 , he attended the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland , and served as a flight test pilot until 1960 . During this tour of duty , he did flight test work on the F - 8U Crusader , F - 11F Tiger , FJ Fury , and A - 4D Skyhawk , and was the first project test pilot for the F - 4H Phantom II . He served with Fighter Squadron 121 ( VF - 121 ) at the Naval Air Station Miramar , California , as a flight instructor in the F - 4H and participated in the introduction of that aircraft to the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet s . He was also flight safety officer , assistant operations officer , and ground training officer for Fighter Squadron 96 ( VF - 96 ) at Miramar . He won the Bendix Trophy Race from Los Angeles to New York City in May 1961 , in which he established a new speed record of 869 . 74 miles per hour and a transcontinental speed record of 2 hours and 47 minutes . He was also a student at the U . S . Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey , California . He has logged more than 4 , 500 hours flying time — 3 , 500 hours in jet aircraft . NASA experience . Gordon was one of the third group of astronauts , named by NASA in October 1963 . He had been a finalist for the second selection , in 1962 . Gordon served as backup pilot for the Gemini 8 flight . In September 1966 , he made his first space flight , as pilot of Gemini 11 , alongside Pete Conrad . Gordon was already good friends with Conrad , who had been his roommate on the carrier USS " Ranger " . On the flight , Gordon performed two EVAs , which included attaching a tether to the Agena and retrieving a nuclear emulsion experiment package . Gordon was subsequently assigned as backup command - module pilot for Apollo 9 . In November 1969 , he flew as command - module pilot of Apollo 12 , the second manned mission to land on the Moon . While his crewmates , Pete Conrad and Alan Bean , landed in the Ocean of Storms , Gordon remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module , " Yankee Clipper " , making desired mapping photographs of tentative landing sites for future missions . After Apollo 12 , Gordon was assigned as backup commander of Apollo 15 . He was slated to walk on the Moon as commander of Apollo 18 , but that mission was cancelled because of budget cuts . Gordon completed two space flights , logging a total of 315 hours and 53 minutes in space , of which 2 hours and 41 minutes were spent in EVA . Gordon retired from NASA and the U . S . Navy in January 1972 . After NASA . Since leaving NASA , Gordon has served as Executive Vice President of the New Orleans Saints Professional Football Club in the National Football League ( 1972 – 76 ) ; was General Manager of Energy Developers , Limited ( EDL ) , a Texas Partnership involved in a joint venture with Rocket Research Corporation for the development of a liquid chemical explosive for use in the oil and gas industry ( 1977 ) ; President of Resolution Engineering and Development Company ( REDCO ) which provided design and operational requirements for wild oil well control and fire fighting equipment onboard large semi - submersible utility vessels ( 1978 ) ; following REDCO merger with Amarco Resources , Gordon assumed the additional duties of Vice President of Marketing , Westdale , an oil well servicing subsidiary of AMARCO operating in North Central Texas and Oklahoma , and also served as Vice President for Operations , Texas Division ( 1980 ) ; served as Director , Scott Science and Technology , Inc . , Los Angeles Division ( 1981 – 1983 ) . In March 1982 he became President of Astro Sciences Corporation . This company provides a range of services including engineering , project management , project field support teams , to software and hardware system design for control room applications . In the summer of 1984 , Gordon was a Technical Advisor for and played the part of " Capcom " in the CBS mini - series " Space " by James A . Michener . He is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society , an associate fellow of Society of Experimental Test Pilots and a member of the Navy League . Gordon wrote the foreword of the book " Falling to Earth : An Apollo 15 Astronaut ' s Journey to the Moon " by fellow Apollo astronaut Al Worden . In the 1998 miniseries " From the Earth to the Moon " Gordon was played by Tom Verica .