Harrison Hagan Schmitt

Harrison Hagan Schmitt, born in 1935, United States senator (1976-1982), astronaut, and geologist, born in Santa Rita, New Mexico. Schmitt was the last person—and the only geologist—to walk on the moon.

Schmitt graduated from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1957, and studied at the University of Oslo in Norway for one year. He worked for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at various sites in Alaska, New Mexico, and Montana, then studied at Harvard University, earning a Ph.D. degree in geology there in 1964.

Following his doctoral studies, Schmitt went to work with the USGS's Astrogeology Branch in Flagstaff, Arizona. As project chief for lunar field geologic studies, he participated in photographic and telescopic mapping of the moon. He also instructed other astronauts on what to look for and how to navigate while moving around the lunar surface. He was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a scientist-astronaut in June 1965, one of six in the first astronaut class chosen for their science backgrounds and not for their flying skills.

Schmitt was assigned as the first lunar mission scientist-astronaut on Apollo 18, but that flight was canceled by congressional budget cuts (see Apollo program). NASA headquarters, in order to get at least one scientist-astronaut to the moon before the Apollo program ended, assigned Schmitt to be lunar module pilot on Apollo 17. In December 1972 Schmitt and mission commander Eugene Andrew Cernan landed in the Taurus-Littrow area of the moon. Following Cernan out of the lunar module, Schmitt became the last of the 12 astronauts who set foot on the moon.

While on the lunar surface, he and Cernan drove their lunar rover on three runs, as far as 19 km (12 mi), collecting samples and deploying instruments. On one excursion, Schmitt and Cernan discovered some “orange” soil, identified as material from a volcano, which gave scientists their first physical evidence that the moon was not geologically dead. Schmitt helped set several records: longest lunar surface stay time (75 hours), longest individual and total lunar surface exploration time outside of the lunar module (7.6 hours and 22.1 hours, respectively), greatest distance traveled by rover (35 km/22 mi), longest Apollo mission (301.9 hours), and most samples collected (113 kg/249 lb).

After his Apollo mission, Schmitt directed NASA's Astronaut Office and Office of Energy Programs. In 1975 he resigned from NASA to successfully run for the office of U.S. senator from New Mexico as a Republican. Senator Schmitt sat on various committees: commerce, space and science, urban affairs, ethics, and banking. He was defeated in his bid for reelection in 1982. After leaving the Senate, Schmitt served on a number of national and presidential committees.

Schmitt is currently an independent consultant in science technology, space, and public policy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.