Ronald Evans (astronaut) 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crews for the Apollo 7 and Apollo 11 flights, and as backup Command Module Pilot for Apollo 14. Evans' only space flight was as Command Module Pilot of Apollo 17, the last scheduled U.S. manned mission to the Moon. He was accompanied by Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. While Cernan and Schmitt landed and worked on the Moon in the Taurus–Littrow valley, Evans remained in lunar orbit on board the Command Module "America", completing assigned work tasks which required visual geological observations, hand-held
Astronaut-politician and finishing in 6th place. Glenn returned to space on October 29, 1998 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95) while still a sitting Senator. The next year he retired from Congress. Two Apollo astronauts were elected to the United States Congress. "Astronaut turned Sen. Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt", whose participation on the Apollo 17 mission made him the only geologist to walk on the Moon, resigned from NASA in August 1975 and shortly thereafter ran as a Republican, winning the New Mexico Senate seat in 1976 over two-term Democratic incumbent, Joseph Montoya by a margin of 57% to 42%, despite being described