Editing David Scott (section)

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{{Short description|American astronaut and lunar explorer (born 1932)}}
{{Other people|David Scott}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox astronaut
| name = David Scott
| image = Dave Scott Apollo 15 CDR.jpg
| alt = Scott posing with a model of the lunar roving vehicle
| caption = Scott in 1971
| birth_name = David Randolph Scott
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1932|6|6}}
| birth_place = [[San Antonio]], Texas, U.S.
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| spouse = {{marriage|Ann Lurton Ott|1959|2001|reason=divorced}}<br />{{marriage|Margaret Black|2001}}
| children = 2
| education = {{ubl|[[University of Michigan]]|[[United States Military Academy]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])|[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] ([[Master of Science|MS]], [[Engineer's degree|EAA]])}}
| awards = {{ubl|[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]|[[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]] (2)}}
| type = [[NASA astronaut]]
| rank = [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]], [[United States Air Force|USAF]]
| time = 22d 18h 54m<ref name="nm" />
| selection = [[NASA Astronaut Group 3|NASA Group 3 (1963)]]
| eva1 = 5 Stand-up EVA on Apollo 9<br>4 EVAs on Apollo 15<br>(1st EVA was a stand-up, while 3 EVAs were on the lunar surface)
| eva2 = 20h 46m<ref name="nm" />
| mission = {{ubl|[[Gemini 8]]|[[Apollo 9]]|[[Apollo 15]]}}
| insignia = [[File:Gemini-8-logo.png|50px|alt=Gemini 8 logo]] [[File:Apollo-9-patch.png|45px|alt=Apollo 9 logo]] [[File:Apollo 15-insignia.png|45px|alt=Apollo 15 logo]]
| retirement = September 30, 1977<ref name="nm" />
}}
'''David Randolph Scott''' (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired [[test pilot]] and [[NASA astronaut]] who was the [[List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon|seventh person to walk on the Moon]]. Selected as part of the [[NASA Astronaut Group 3|third group]] of [[astronaut]]s in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and commanded [[Apollo&nbsp;15]], the fourth lunar landing; he is one of four surviving Moon walkers and the only living commander of a spacecraft that landed on the Moon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/1290267/astronaut-alan-bean-fourth-man-to-walk-on-the-moon-is-dead/|title=Now just four men who walked on the moon are still alive|last1=Mancini|first1=John|date=May 26, 2018|access-date=March 5, 2019|work=Quartz|archive-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301074727/https://qz.com/1290267/astronaut-alan-bean-fourth-man-to-walk-on-the-moon-is-dead/|url-status=live}}</ref><!--Sources only status as moonwalker/last living commander, remainder of paragraph sourced in article.-->

Before becoming an astronaut, Scott graduated from the [[United States Military Academy at West Point]] and joined the Air Force. After serving as a fighter pilot in Europe, he graduated from the [[U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School|Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School]] (Class 62C) and the [[Aerospace Research Pilot School]] (Class IV). Scott retired from the Air Force in 1975 with the rank of colonel, and more than 5,600 hours of logged flying time.

As an astronaut, Scott made his first flight into [[Outer space|space]] as a pilot of the [[Gemini&nbsp;8]] mission, along with [[Neil Armstrong]], in March 1966, spending just under eleven hours in [[low Earth orbit]]. He would have been the second American astronaut to walk in space had Gemini{{nbs}}8 not made an emergency abort. Scott then spent ten days in orbit in March 1969 as [[Apollo Command/Service Module|Command Module]] Pilot of [[Apollo&nbsp;9]], a mission that extensively tested the Apollo spacecraft, along with Commander [[James McDivitt]] and [[Apollo Lunar Module|Lunar Module]] Pilot [[Rusty Schweickart]].

After backing up [[Apollo&nbsp;12]], Scott made his third and final flight into space as commander of the Apollo{{nbs}}15 mission, the fourth crewed lunar landing and the first J mission. Scott and [[James Irwin]] remained on the Moon for three days. Following their return to Earth, Scott and his crewmates fell from favor with NASA after it was disclosed that [[Apollo 15 postal covers incident|they had carried four hundred unauthorized postal covers to the Moon]]. After serving as director of NASA's [[Dryden Flight Research Center]] in California, Scott retired from the agency in 1977. Since then, he has worked on space-related projects and served as a consultant for several films about the space program, including [[Apollo 13 (film)|''Apollo{{nbs}}13'']].