Editing Alan Bean (section)

===NASA career===
Bean was selected by NASA as part of [[NASA Astronaut Group 3|Astronaut Group 3]] in 1963 (after not being selected for [[NASA Astronaut Group 2|Astronaut Group 2]] the previous year).<ref>{{cite book|first=Andrew|last=Chaikin|author-link=Andrew Chaikin|title=[[A Man on the Moon]]|year=1994|publisher=[[Penguin Books Ltd]]|isbn=978-0-14-024146-4}}</ref> He was selected to be the backup command pilot for [[Gemini 10]], but was unsuccessful in securing an early Apollo flight assignment. He was placed in the [[Apollo Applications Program]] in the interim. In that capacity, he was the first astronaut to dive in the [[Neutral Buoyancy Simulator]] and a champion of the process for astronaut training.<ref name="notes">{{Citation
|author=von Braun, Wernher
|editor-last=Buckbee
|editor-first=Ed
|title=The Rocket Man: Wernher von Braun: The Man Who Took America to the Moon: His Weekly Notes: 1961–1969
|url=http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/001778.html
|format=DVD
|date=2010
|publisher=Steward & Wise Music Publishing
|isbn=978-1-935001-27-0
|page=1966-07 p. 79
}}</ref> When fellow astronaut [[Clifton Williams]] was killed in an air crash, a space was opened for Bean on the backup crew for [[Apollo 9]]. Apollo 12 Commander Conrad, who had instructed Bean at the Naval Test Pilot School years before, personally requested Bean to replace Williams.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

====Apollo program====
{{main|Apollo 12}}
[[File:S69-58880.jpg|thumb|left|Bean during suiting-up for Apollo 12 flight]]
[[File:Apollo12Visor.jpg|thumb|right|Bean on the Moon during Apollo 12]]
Bean was the [[Apollo Lunar Module]] pilot on [[Apollo 12]], the second lunar landing. In November 1969, Bean and [[Pete Conrad]] landed on the Moon's [[Ocean of Storms]]—after a flight of 250,000 miles and a launch that included a harrowing lightning strike. He was the astronaut who executed [[John Aaron]]'s "Flight, try SCE to 'Aux'" instruction to restore telemetry after the spacecraft was struck by lightning 36 seconds after launch, thus salvaging the mission. They explored the lunar surface, deployed several [[lunar surface]] experiments, and installed the first nuclear power generator station on the Moon to provide the power source. [[Richard F. Gordon, Jr.|Dick Gordon]] remained in lunar orbit, photographing landing sites for future missions.<ref name="nasa-bio" />

[[File:(Left to right) Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon, and Al Bean pose with the Apollo 12 Saturn V.jpg|right|thumb|[[Pete Conrad]], [[Richard F. Gordon Jr.|Dick Gordon]], and Alan Bean pose with their Apollo 12 Saturn V Moon rocket in the background on the pad at [[Cape Canaveral]] on October 29, 1969]]

Bean had planned on using a self-timer for his [[Hasselblad]] camera to take a photograph of both Pete Conrad and himself while on the lunar surface near the [[Surveyor III]] spacecraft. He was hoping to record a good photo, and also to confuse the mission scientists as to how the photo could have been taken. However, neither he nor Conrad could locate the timer in the tool carrier tote bag while at the Surveyor III site, thus lost the opportunity. After finding the self-timer unit at the end of the [[Extravehicular activity|EVA]], when it was too late to use, he threw it as far as he could.<ref>{{cite web |last=Agle |first=D.C. |date=November 17, 2004 |title=NASA – Ocean Rendezvous |url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/apollo12_prt.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215135241/http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/apollo12_prt.htm |archive-date=December 15, 2010 |access-date=December 14, 2010 |publisher=[[Nasa.gov]]}}</ref> His paintings of what this photo would have looked like (titled ''The Fabulous Photo We Never Took'') and one of his fruitless search for the timer (''Our Little Secret'') are included in his collection of Apollo paintings.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.alanbeangallery.com/our-little-secret |title=Our Little Secret |publisher=Alanbeangallery.com |access-date=July 11, 2024}}</ref><ref>Bean, Alan and Chaikin, Andrew. ''Apollo: An Eyewitness Account'', The Greenwich Workshop Press; First Edition (January 10, 1998). {{ISBN|0-86713-050-4}}</ref>

Bean's suit is on display in the [[National Air and Space Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historicspacecraft.com/spacesuits.html|title=Historic Spacecraft – Space Suit Photos}}</ref>

====Skylab====
{{main|Skylab 3}}
[[File:Skylab 3 Bean shaving.jpg|thumb|left|Bean shaving during the Skylab 3 mission]]
Bean was the spacecraft commander of [[Skylab 3]], the second crewed mission to [[Skylab]], from July 29 to September 25, 1973. With him on the mission were scientist-astronaut [[Owen K. Garriott|Owen Garriott]] and [[Marines|Marine Corps]] [[Jack R. Lousma|Colonel Jack R. Lousma]]. Bean and his crew were on Skylab for 59 days, during which time they covered a world-record-setting 24.4 million miles.<ref name="nasa-bio" /> During the mission, Bean tested a prototype of the [[Manned Maneuvering Unit]] and performed one spacewalk outside the Skylab. The crew of Skylab 3 accomplished 150% of its mission goals.<ref name="nasa-bio"/>