Alan Bean Alan Bean Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932 – May 26, 2018) was an American naval officer and naval aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut; he was the fourth person to walk on the Moon. He was selected to become an astronaut by NASA in 1963 as part of Astronaut Group 3. He made his first flight into space aboard Apollo 12, the second manned mission to land on the Moon, at age 37 in November 1969. He made his second and final flight into space on the Skylab 3 mission in 1973, the second manned mission to
6469 Armstrong on the Moon, and the first person to walk on it, shortly followed by Buzz Aldrin, after whom the asteroid 6470 Aldrin is named. The minor planet 6471 Collins is named after the third crew member of the Apollo 11 mission. In 1966, Armstrong also conducted the first docking in space together with David Scott aboard Gemini 8. The asteroid's name was suggested by Czech astronomers Jana Tichá, Miloš Tichý and Zdeněk Moravec, who observed it during its 1995-opposition, shortly before being numbered. The lunar crater "Armstrong" is also named in his honor. The approved naming citation was published by