Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell dies

Risingbd Desk: Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, who was part of the Apollo 14 space crew that flew to the moon in 1971, died late Thursday at West Palm Beach in US, according to his family.

Mitchell, 85, lived in suburban Lake Worth and died at a local hospice at about 10 p.m. Thursday, his daughter, former West Palm Beach City Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell told The Palm Beach Post.

Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, 85, dies in West Palm Beach photo

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell was honored at ‘Out of this World’ program at The Breakers in 2011.

Mitchell’s ex-wife, Anita Mitchell, is a former Republican Party chairman for Palm Beach County and is currently Palm Beach County campaign chairman for former Florida governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush.

Mitchell was the sixth man to walk on the moon. He was part of a three-man crew, with Alan Shepard Jr. and Stuart Roosa, who took part in the Apollo 14 space mission. It was the eighth manned mission in the United States Apollo program and they became the third ever to land on the moon. Mitchell was the lunar module pilot on the mission.

Apollo 14 launched just over 45 years ago, on Jan. 31, 1971. The nine-day mission ended Feb. 9 when the crew landed in the South Pacific Ocean.

Source: agencies

risingbd/Feb 6, 2016/Nasim