Editing Apollo 14 (section)

== Astronauts and key Mission Control personnel ==
{{Spaceflight crew
|terminology      = Astronaut
|position1        = Commander
|crew1_up         = [[Alan Shepard|Alan B. Shepard Jr.]]
|flights1_up      = Second and last
|position2        = Command Module Pilot
|crew2_up         = [[Stuart Roosa|Stuart A. Roosa]]
|flights2_up      = Only
|position3        = Lunar Module Pilot
|crew3_up         = [[Edgar Mitchell|Edgar D. Mitchell]]
|flights3_up      = Only
}}
The mission commander of Apollo 14, [[Alan Shepard]], one of the original [[Mercury Seven]] astronauts, became the first American to enter space with a [[Sub-orbital spaceflight|suborbital flight]] on May 5, 1961.{{sfn|Press Kit|pp=72–73}} Thereafter, he was grounded by [[Ménière's disease]], a disorder of the ear, and served as [[Chief Astronaut]], the administrative head of the [[Astronaut Office]]. He had experimental surgery in 1968 which was successful and allowed his return to flight status.{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|pp=341–343, 346}} Shepard, at age 47, was the oldest U.S. [[astronaut]] to fly when he made his trip aboard Apollo 14, and he is the oldest person to walk on the Moon.<ref>{{cite news |title=Apollo 14 Moon shot: Alan Shepard 'told he was too old' |first=Paul |last=Rincon |author-link=Paul Rincon |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12344613 |work=[[BBC News]] |location=London |date=February 3, 2011 |access-date=February 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204051501/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12344613 |archive-date=February 4, 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1971/Apollo-14-and-15/12295509436546-9/ |title=1971 Year in Review: Apollo 14 and 15 |work=UPI.com |publisher=[[United Press International]] |year=1971 |access-date=May 3, 2009}}</ref>{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=394}}

Apollo 14's Command Module Pilot (CMP), [[Stuart Roosa]], aged 37 when the mission flew, had been a [[smoke jumper]] before joining the Air Force in 1953. He became a fighter pilot and then in 1965 successfully completed [[U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School|Aerospace Research Pilot School]] (ARPS) at [[Edwards Air Force Base]] in California prior to his selection as a [[NASA Astronaut Group 5|Group 5]] astronaut the following year.{{sfn|Shayler & Burgess 2017|pp=61–62}} He served as a [[capsule communicator]] (CAPCOM) for [[Apollo 9]].{{sfn|Moseley 2011|pp=112–114}} The Lunar Module Pilot (LMP), [[Edgar Mitchell]], aged 40 at the time of Apollo 14, joined the Navy in 1952 and served as a fighter pilot, beginning in 1954. He was assigned to squadrons aboard aircraft carriers before returning to the United States to further his education while in the Navy, also completing the ARPS prior to his selection as a Group 5 astronaut.{{sfn|Shayler & Burgess 2017|pp=58–59}} He served on the support crew for Apollo 9 and was the LMP of the backup crew for [[Apollo 10]].{{sfn|Press Kit|p=78}}

Shepard and his crew had originally been designated by [[Deke Slayton]], Director of Flight Crew Operations and one of the Mercury Seven, as the crew for Apollo 13. NASA's management felt that Shepard needed more time for training given he had not flown in space since 1961, and chose him and his crew for Apollo 14 instead. The crew originally designated for Apollo 14, [[Jim Lovell]] as the commander, [[Ken Mattingly]] as CMP and [[Fred Haise]] as LMP, all of whom had backed up [[Apollo 11]], was made the prime crew for Apollo 13 instead.{{sfn|Slayton & Cassutt|1994|p=236}}{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|p=349}}

Mitchell's commander on the Apollo 10 backup crew had been another of the original seven, [[Gordon Cooper]], who had tentatively been scheduled to command Apollo 13, but according to author [[Andrew Chaikin]], his casual attitude toward training resulted in him being not selected.{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|pp=347–348}} Also on that crew, but excluded from further flights, was [[Donn Eisele]], likely because of problems aboard [[Apollo 7]], which he had flown, and because he had been involved in a messy divorce.{{sfn|Slayton & Cassutt|1994|p=236}}

Apollo 14's backup crew was [[Gene Cernan|Eugene A. Cernan]] as commander, [[Ronald Evans (astronaut)|Ronald E. Evans Jr.]] as CMP and [[Joe Engle|Joe H. Engle]] as LMP.{{sfn|Press Kit|pp=79–83}} The backup crew, with [[Harrison Schmitt]] replacing Engle, would become the prime crew of [[Apollo 17]].{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|p=499}} Schmitt flew instead of Engle because there was intense pressure on NASA to fly a scientist to the Moon (Schmitt was a geologist) and Apollo 17 was the last lunar flight.{{sfn|Chaikin 1995|pp=449–450}} Engle, who had flown the [[X-15]] to the edge of outer space, flew into space for NASA in 1981 on [[STS-2]], the second [[Space Shuttle]] flight.{{sfn|Shayler & Burgess 2017|pp=40, 325}}

During projects [[Project Mercury|Mercury]] and [[Project Gemini|Gemini]], each mission had a prime and a backup crew. Apollo 9 commander [[James McDivitt]] believed meetings that required a member of the flight crew were being missed, so for Apollo a third crew of astronauts was added, known as the support crew.{{sfn|Slayton & Cassutt|1994|p=184}} Usually low in seniority, support crew members assembled the mission's rules, [[flight plan]], and checklists, and kept them updated;<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hersch|first=Matthew|date=July 19, 2009|title=The fourth crewmember|journal=[[Air & Space/Smithsonian]]|access-date=October 4, 2019|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/space/the-fourth-crewmember-37046329/}}</ref>{{sfn|Brooks|Grimwood|Swenson|1979|p=261}} for Apollo 14, they were [[Philip K. Chapman]], [[Bruce McCandless II]], [[William R. Pogue]] and [[C. Gordon Fullerton]].{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=394}} CAPCOMs, the individuals in Mission Control responsible for communications with the astronauts were Evans, McCandless, Fullerton and Haise. A veteran of Apollo 13, which had aborted before reaching the Moon, Haise put his training for that mission to use, especially during the EVAs, since both missions were targeted at the same place on the Moon.{{sfn|Shayler & Burgess 2017|p=288}} Had Haise walked on the Moon, he would have been the first Group 5 astronaut to do so, an honor that went to Mitchell.{{sfn|Moseley 2011|p=133}}

The flight directors during Apollo had a one-sentence job description, "The flight director may take any actions necessary for crew safety and mission success."<ref>{{cite news|title=A legendary tale, well-told|access-date=October 5, 2019|last=Williams|first=Mike|url=https://news.rice.edu/2012/09/13/a-legendary-tale-well-told/|publisher=Rice University Office of Public Affairs|date=September 13, 2012|archive-date=August 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817125432/https://news.rice.edu/2012/09/13/a-legendary-tale-well-told/|url-status=dead}}</ref> For Apollo 14, they were: [[Pete Frank]], Orange team; [[Glynn Lunney]], Black team; [[Milt Windler]], Maroon team and [[Gerald D. Griffin|Gerry Griffin]], Gold team.{{sfn|Orloff & Harland 2006|p=394}}