Dr. Edgar Mitchell
Dr. Edgar Mitchell is a scientist, naval officer, astronaut, and author. He is best known for his life-changing experience seeing the planet Earth from space on his Apollo XIV mission in 1971. He was the sixth man to walk on the moon. Dr. Mitchell is the founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), a nonprofit organization sponsoring research on the nature of consciousness. He is also the cofounder of the Association of Space Explorers. Both are educational organizations developed to provide new understanding of the human condition in the epoch of space exploration. He lectures regularly on cosmology, human potential, and the implications of recent discoveries in science as they affect our individual lives. He is the author of Psychic Exploration: A Challenge for Science (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1974), a major reference book, and The Way of the Explorer (Putnam, 1996). Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University, a B.S. in Aeronautics from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His honors and awards include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, USN Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Group Achievement Award (three times), Explorers Club Man of the Year, Legion of Goodwill, Hors Concours Award, and induction into the Space Hall of Fame. Traveling back to Earth, having just walked on the moon, Dr. Mitchell had an experience for which nothing in his life had prepared him. As he approached the planet we know as home, he was filled with an inner conviction as certain as any mathematical equation he'd ever solved. He knew that the beautiful blue world to which he was returning is part of a living system, harmonious and whole—and that we all participate, as he expressed it later, "in a universe of consciousness." Trained as an engineer and scientist, Captain Mitchell was most comfortable in the world of rationality and physical precision. Yet the understanding that came to him as he journeyed back from space felt just as trustworthy—it represented another way of knowing. This experience radically altered his worldview: Despite science's superb technological achievements, he realized that we had barely begun to probe the deepest mystery of the universe—the fact of consciousness itself. He became convinced that the uncharted territory of the human mind was the next frontier to explore, and that it contained possibilities we had hardly begun to imagine. Within two years of his expedition, Edgar Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973. Dr. Mitchell's CV with his awards and degrees reads as follows: Born: September 17, 1930, Hereford, Texas Designated naval aviator: 1954 Military test pilot: 1958-1972 Technical Director, Navy Space Systems: 1964-1965 Served with NASA and the Astronaut Corps: 1966-1972 Served on the backup crew for Apollo 10 and Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot Apollo 14 lunar mission, January 31-February 9, 1971; became sixth man to walk on the moon. BS Industrial Management, Carnegie Mellon University, 1952 BS Aeronautics, US Naval Postgraduate School, 1961 ScD Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, 1964 EngD Engineering, New Mexico State University, 1971 (honorary) ScD Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1971 (honorary) ScD Engineering, University of Akron, 1979 (honorary) PhD Embry-Riddle University 1996 (honorary) Founder, Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1973; Chairman 1973-1982 President, Edgar Mitchell Productions, 1980-- Public Speaker, Lecturer, Consultant, Author, 1972--- Author: "The Way of the Explorer" Putnam NY '96; "Psychic Exploration: A Challenge for Science", Putnam NY '74 Member, Society of Experimental Test Pilots 1966-- Member, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1963-1983 Member, International Platform Association, 1975-1983 Member, Explorers Club, 1972-- Member, World Futures Society, 1975-- Member, New York Academy of Sciences, 1975-1983 Member, Radio and Television Correspondents Association, 1972-- (honorary) Notre Dame University, Albert Schmidt Lecturer, 1972 Rotary International Convention, Lausanne, Switzerland, keynote address, 1973 Outstanding Man of the Year, Carnegie Mellon Alumni, 1972 Drexel University, Engineering and Science Award, 1974 Kappa Sigma Man of the Year Award, 1972 Space Hall of Fame, inducted 1979 Kalamazoo College, John Fetzer Lecturer, 1979 Lowell Thomas Man of the Year Award, Explorer's Club, 1980 United Nations, New York, Earth Day Address, 1992 International University, Buckminister Fuller Lecturer, 1993 Astronaut Hall of Fame, inducted 1995 NBC Dateline, feature story, April 1996 Sightings, feature story, October 1996 Nominee, Nobel Peace Prize, 2005