Business & Science

Alan Bean

Wheeler-born Alan Bean went from Fort Worth and the University of Texas to Apollo 12, becoming the fourth person to walk on the Moon before turning his firsthand space experience into a second career as an artist.

Roster rank: #175
Category: Business & Science
Subject type: Person
Profile source: Published Texas Icons profile

Texas story

Life and career

Alan LaVern Bean was born in Wheeler, Texas, graduated from Paschal High School in Fort Worth and earned an aeronautical-engineering degree from the University of Texas in 1955. After Navy flight and test-pilot service, NASA selected him in its third astronaut group in 1963.

Bean flew as lunar module pilot on Apollo 12 in 1969, becoming the fourth person to walk on the Moon, and later commanded the second crewed Skylab mission. He left NASA in 1981 to paint space exploration from the rare perspective of someone who had seen the lunar surface firsthand, working for years from a Houston studio.

Defining work

What to know

Apollo 12
fourth person to walk on the Moon
Skylab 3 commander
University of Texas engineering
space art

Timeline

Key milestones

1932Born in Wheeler, Texas.
1955Graduates from the University of Texas with an aeronautical-engineering degree.
1963Selected for NASA's third astronaut group.
1969Walks on the Moon during Apollo 12.
1973Commands the second crewed Skylab mission.
1981Leaves NASA to devote himself full-time to painting.

Texas connections