#194: Charlie Duke is a former Astronaut & Apollo 16 Lunar Model pilot who became the 10th and youngest human being to ever walk on the surface of the moon.

He has also served in many other critical historical events. On Apollo 11, the first ever moon landing, Neil Armstrong asked Charlie to serve at CAPCOM (which is the voice of Houston/mission control when they landed on the moon). He served back up on Apollo 13 working tirelessly to help safely bring back his fellow astronauts.

Charlie attended the US Naval Academy before becoming a fighter pilot in the US Air Force. After a few years in the Air Force he attended MIT and then became a test pilot with Chuck Yeager. During this time he was encouraged by Yeager and others to apply to become an astronaut and the rest is history.

Apollo 16 was NASA’s second scientific expedition on the moon. During his time on the moon he logged 20.25 hours in extra vehicular activities and collected some 213 pounds of soil and geological samples. He took the only videos of the lunar rover in action. Charlie’s stay on the moon was a record setting 71hours and 14 minutes and he was also the first person to do Moon Olympics.

On the show Charlie shares his story of growing up, becoming a fighter pilot, test pilot and then  astronauts, the many of tense stories of the Apollo landings, his own experience walking on the moon, life after NASA, the impact and influence of his wife Dotty, forgiveness, fulfillment, faith, and much more.

For more info on Charlie and his wife Dotty, as well as their books, check out charlieduke.com and dukeministryforchrist.org 

Enjoy the show!