Apollo 16 Astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Charles Duke has been named the 2020 Texan of the Year by the Texas Legislative Conference.
The event honoring Duke was held at Space Center Houston, the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center.
According to Conference Chair E. Ray Covey of AEP Texas, “General Duke is one of a mere dozen humans to have ever walked on the MoonMoon’s surface and looked back toward Earth. His perspectives are unique, and his efforts have paved the way for tremendous advancements in science and technology that we all enjoy today.”
A South Carolina native, but Texan by choice, Duke has called Texas home since 1975. He and his wife Dorothy have co-authored the book Moonwalker, published by Olson Nelson Publishers in 1990. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Duke served as a fighter-interceptor pilot with the 526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Ramstein Air Base. He received his master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Duke said to an engaged audience during his acceptance that when he was first notified of being the recipient, he felt honored to be named this year’s Texan of the Year, but didn’t at first believe it.
“I was in shock,” Duke said. “I said, ‘Are you sure?’ I meant that. I’ve never been a politician, and I’ve never been a country music star — I flunked fifth-grade choir. But as the first astronaut to be named Texan of the Year by the Texas Legislative Conference is something very, very special.”
Duke was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as CAPCOM for Apollo 11, becoming the voice of Mission Control heard by the world when he answered Neil Armstrong’s famous “the Eagle has landed.”
Duke served as lunar module pilot of Apollo 16, April 16-27, 1972. He was accompanied on the fifth manned lunar mission by John W. Young (spacecraft commander) and Thomas K. Mattingly II (command module pilot). Apollo 16 was the first scientific expedition to inspect, survey, and sample materials and surface features in the Descartes region of the rugged lunar highlands. Duke is the youngest and one of only 12 people who have walked on the Moon.
“General Duke is a pioneer, who embodies the spirit of ingenuity and discovery,” said William T. Harris, president and CEO of the science and space exploration learning center Space Center Houston. “He continues to be an inspiration to future generations as we move forward in pursuit of new ideas and advancements in human space exploration to further humanity with NASA’s plans to send humans to the Moon and Mars.”
Duke also spoke, reminiscing of the first time he became interested in aviation when he was a South Carolina kid.
“I looked up into the sky — it was the beginning of the jet age — and there were these long white contrails behind these airplanes,” he said. “And I said, ‘I’d like to make a contrail one day.’”
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