On November 19th, 1969, Alan Bean became the fourth man to set foot on the Moon. He was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 12, the second Lunar Landing. In 1973, Alan again flew in space as Commander of Skylab Mission II. After Skylab, Alan was selected as backup spacecraft commander for the joint American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Alan then served as Chief of Operations and Training and Acting Chief Astronaut until the first flight of the space shuttle.
While at NASA, Alan helped establish 11 world records in space and astronautics. He was awarded two NASA Distinguished Service Medals and two Navy Distinguished Service Medals. He has received the Robert J. Collier Trophy, Yuri Gagarin Gold Medal and numerous other National and International honors. Alan has flown 27 types of military aircraft as well as many civilian airplanes and has logged 7,145 hours of flight time.
In 1981, Alan Bean resigned as a NASA astronaut to devote full time to painting and speaking. Employing an impressionist style, Bean captures the spirit of Apollo with lunar landscapes, portraits of fellow moonwalkers, and views of Earth from space. His works offer glimpses of a world on which only he and 11 others have walked.