Ronald Evans (astronaut) Ronald Evans (astronaut) Ronald Ellwin Evans Jr. (November 10, 1933 – April 7, 1990), (Capt, USN), was an American naval officer and aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut, also one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon. Evans was selected as an astronaut by NASA as part of Astronaut Group 5 in 1966 and made his first and only flight into space as Command Module Pilot aboard Apollo 17 in 1972, the last manned mission to the Moon to date, with Commander Eugene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt. During the flight, he orbited
United States Astronaut Badge token of condolence. This diamond-studded gold pin was later flown to the moon on board Apollo 11 in July 1969. One silver astronaut pin currently rests on the surface of the moon, left there by astronaut Alan Bean during Apollo 12 in 1969. United States Astronaut Badge The United States Astronaut Badge is a badge of the United States, awarded to military pilots, naval flight officers, navigators/combat systems officers (this badge can also be awarded to USAF officer astronauts who are not navigators/CSOs, but who wear the same insignia while designated as astronaut-qualified Air Force "observers"), flight surgeons, and civilian