Editing Edgar Mitchell

{{Short description|American astronaut and lunar explorer (1930–2016)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox astronaut
|name          = Ed Mitchell
|image         = Edgar Mitchell cropped.jpg
|caption       = Mitchell in 1971 during the Apollo 14 mission 
|birth_name    = Edgar Dean Mitchell
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1930|9|17}}
|birth_place   = [[Hereford, Texas]], U.S.
|death_date    = {{death date and age|2016|2|4|1930|9|17}}
|death_place   = [[West Palm Beach, Florida]], U.S.
|spouse        = {{marriage|Louise Randall|1951|1972|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|Anita Rettig|1973|1984|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|Sheilah Ledbetter|1989|1999|end=divorced}}
|children      = 6
|signature     = File:Edgar D Mitchell Autograph 1973.jpg
|signature_size= 250px
|footnotes  = Autograph of Edgar D. Mitchell with Noetic Sciences business card
|education     = {{ubl|[[Carnegie Mellon University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])|[[Naval Postgraduate School]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])|[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] ([[Doctor of Science|ScD]])}}
|awards        = {{ubl|[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]|[[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]]}}
|type          = [[NASA astronaut]]
|rank          = [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]], [[United States Navy|USN]]
|selection     = [[NASA Astronaut Group 5|NASA Group 5 (1966)]]
|time          = 9d 0h 1m
|eva1          = 2
|eva2          = 9h 23m
|mission       = [[Apollo 14]]
|insignia      = [[File:Apollo 14-insignia.png|50px|alt=The circular patch depicts the Earth and the Moon. An astronaut lapel pin leaves a comet trail from the liftoff point on Earth. Around it is the logo "Apollo 14 – Shepard Roosa Mitchell"]]
|retirement    = October 1, 1972
}}
'''Edgar Dean "Ed" Mitchell''' (September 17, 1930&nbsp;– February 4, 2016) was a [[United States Navy]] officer and [[United States Naval Aviator|aviator]], [[test pilot]], [[Aerospace engineering|aeronautical engineer]], [[Ufology|ufologist]], and [[NASA]] [[astronaut]]. As the [[Lunar Module]] Pilot of [[Apollo 14]] in 1971 he spent nine hours working on the lunar surface in the [[Fra Mauro formation|Fra Mauro Highlands region]], and was the sixth [[List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon|person to walk on the Moon]]. He was the second [[Freemason]] to set foot on the Moon, after [[Buzz Aldrin]].

Before becoming an astronaut, Mitchell earned his [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[Industrial Management]] from [[Carnegie Institute of Technology]] and entered the [[United States Navy]] in 1952. After being commissioned through the [[Officer Candidate School (United States Navy)|Officer Candidate School]] at [[Newport, Rhode Island]], he served as a [[United States Naval Aviator|Naval Aviator]]. In 1961, he received his second [[bachelor's degree]], in [[Aerospace engineering|aeronautical engineering]], from the U.S. [[Naval Postgraduate School]] and three years later earned his [[doctorate]] in [[Aeronautics]] and [[Astronautics]] from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT). From 1965 to 1966, he attended the [[U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School|U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School]] and graduated first in his class. During this period, he served as an [[Teacher|instructor]] in advanced [[mathematics]] and [[Navigation|navigation theory]] for astronaut candidates.

The legacy of his post-NASA scientific and parapsychology work is carried on through the [[Institute of Noetic Sciences]].<ref name="IONS">{{cite web|url=https://noetic.org/profile/edgar-mitchell|title=IONS Founder Edgar Mitchell|publisher=[[Institute of Noetic Sciences]]|access-date=February 19, 2019|archive-date=July 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716165711/http://noetic.org/profile/edgar-mitchell|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
[[File:Mitchell thesis.JPG|thumb|left|100px|Mitchell's doctoral thesis on space vehicle guidance on display at the [[United States Astronaut Hall of Fame]]]]
Mitchell was born on September 17, 1930, in [[Hereford, Texas]], to Joseph Thomas Mitchell (1910–1967) and Ollidean Margaret Mitchell ({{nee}} Arnold; 1911–1977).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28979427/the_evening_sun/|title=Mitchell, Once a Cowpoke, is an Intellectual|newspaper=The Evening Sun|location=Baltimore, Maryland|date=February 1, 1971|via=Newspapers.com|agency=New York Times News Service}}</ref> He had three siblings: Joyce Alyene, who died in her infancy in 1933, Sandra Jo (1934–1988) and Jay Neely "Coach" (1937–2013), who was a member of the inaugural graduating class of the [[United States Air Force Academy]] in 1959, and a [[Aviator|pilot]] with the [[United States Air Force]] (USAF), achieving the rank of [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]]. He came from a [[ranch]]ing family that moved to New Mexico during the [[Great Depression|Depression]] and considered [[Artesia, New Mexico]] (near [[Roswell, New Mexico|Roswell]])<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quBgwOYrKk0&t=7m4s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/quBgwOYrKk0| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Dr.Edgar Mitchell interview (Day before Disclosure)|date=January 7, 2011|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> as his hometown. He first learned to fly at 13,<ref>{{Cite news|title = Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo astronaut who walked on the moon, dies at 85|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/edgar-d-mitchell-apollo-astronaut-who-walked-on-the-moon-dies-at-85/2016/02/05/9daf2e2c-cc40-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = February 5, 2016|access-date = February 6, 2016|issn = 0190-8286|language = en-US|first = Matt|last = Schudel}}</ref> receiving his [[private pilot license]] at 16, and was active in the [[Boy Scouts of America]] where he achieved its second highest rank, [[Life Scout]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/scouting_space.aspx |title=Scouting and Space Exploration |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032406/http://www.scouting.org/about/factsheets/scouting_space.aspx |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref> He was also a member of [[DeMolay International]], part of the [[Freemasonry|Masonic Fraternity]], and was inducted into its Hall of Fame. Mitchell was a member of Artesia Lodge #29 in [[New Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|title=First Day Issue Stamp Postcard with Ed Mitchell information|url=http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/images/EdgarMitchellAstronautFDC1.jpg|access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref> He enjoyed [[handball]], [[tennis]], and [[swimming]], and his hobbies included [[scuba diving]] and [[Gliding|soaring]].

He graduated from [[Artesia High School (New Mexico)|Artesia High School]] in 1948. Mitchell received a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[Industrial organization|industrial management]] from the [[Carnegie Institute of Technology]] (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1952, where he was a member of [[Kappa Sigma]] fraternity.<ref name="astronautix"/> That same year, he entered the [[United States Navy]] and completed [[Recruit training|basic training]] at [[Naval Training Center San Diego|San Diego Recruit Depot]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/mitchell-ed.html |title=Mitchell's Navy recruitment |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316062223/https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/mitchell-ed.html |archive-date=March 16, 2017 }}</ref> While on active duty in the Navy, he earned a second [[bachelor's degree]], in [[Aerospace engineering|aeronautical engineering]], from the U.S. [[Naval Postgraduate School]] in 1961 and a [[Doctor of Science]] degree in [[aeronautics]] and [[astronautics]] from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) in 1964.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34483952/the_boston_globe/|title=Four from Tech Named Earlier|newspaper=The Boston Globe|location=Boston, Massachusetts|date=August 5, 1967|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="astronautix">{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/m/mitchell.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828060053/http://www.astronautix.com/m/mitchell.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 28, 2016|title=Mitchell, Edgar Dean 'Ed'|publisher=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]]}}</ref>

He was married to Louise Randall from 1951 to 1972. Following their divorce, he married Anita Rettig in 1973. The couple divorced in 1984 when he began an affair with former ''[[Playboy]]'' model Sheilah Ledbetter. He was father to two children with Randall, adopted Rettig's three children, and later was father to another child, this time with Ledbetter. Rettig served as chair of the [[Palm Beach County]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], while Kimberly Mitchell (the eldest daughter from his union with Rettig) was a city commissioner in [[West Palm Beach, Florida]].<ref name="mpp">{{cite web|url=http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/local/mitchell-one-moon-walkers-dies-west-palm-beach/CP07Aqfa6vdz11pPRAIj6K/|title=Ed Mitchell, 85, one of 12 moon walkers, dies in West Palm Beach|last1=Kleinberg|first1=Eliot|publisher=Palm Beach Post|date=February 5, 2016|access-date=January 11, 2018|archive-date=January 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112160538/http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/local/mitchell-one-moon-walkers-dies-west-palm-beach/CP07Aqfa6vdz11pPRAIj6K/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Ledbetter and Mitchell married in 1989 and divorced in 1999.<ref name="mpp" /><ref name="nytimesobit"/> He was survived by five children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

==Flight experience==
In May 1953, after completing instruction at the [[Officer Candidate School (United States Navy)|Officer Candidate School]] at [[Newport, Rhode Island]], Mitchell was commissioned an [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]]. He completed flight training in July 1954 at [[Hutchinson, Kansas]], was designated as a [[United States Naval Aviator|Naval Aviator]] and received the [[Daughters of the American Revolution|Daughters of the American Revolution Award]] for achieving the highest overall marks during flight training. After period of instruction from July to September 1954 at the Fleet Airborne Electronics Training Unit, [[United States Pacific Fleet|U.S. Pacific Fleet]], Mitchell was subsequently assigned to Patrol Squadron 29 ([[VP-29 (1946-55)|VP-29]]), flying land-based patrol planes, deployed to [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]].<ref name=edmitchellbio/><ref name="mitchell-usn">{{Cite web|title = Edgar Dean Mitchell|url = https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-m/mitchell-edgar/mitchell-edgar-text.html|website = www.history.navy.mil|date = March 4, 2016|access-date = April 11, 2022}}</ref>

From 1957 to 1958, Mitchell transitioned to carrier-based jet aircraft and flew the [[Douglas A-3 Skywarrior|A3D Skywarrior]] while assigned to Heavy Attack Squadron Two (VAH-2) deployed aboard the [[aircraft carrier]]s [[USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)|USS ''Bon Homme Richard'']] and [[USS Ticonderoga (CV-14)|USS ''Ticonderoga'']]. He qualified as a research pilot and flew with [[VX-9|Air Development Squadron Five]] until 1959. Following the completion of his graduate studies, Mitchell served as Chief, Project Management Division of the Navy Field Office for the [[Manned Orbiting Laboratory]] from 1964 to 1965. From 1965 to 1966, he attended the [[U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School|U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School]] for certification as a [[test pilot]], graduating first in his class. During this period, Mitchell served as an [[Teacher|instructor]] in advanced [[mathematics]] and [[Navigation|navigation theory]] for astronaut candidates.<ref name=edmitchellbio>{{cite web|title=Biogrpahical Data: Edgar Dean Mitchell|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/mitchell_edgar.pdf|publisher=NASA|access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>

Mitchell accumulated 5,000 hours flight time, including 2,000 hours in [[jet aircraft]].<ref>[https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2016/02/12/wreath-honors-apollo-astronaut-edgar-mitchell/ NASA.gov]</ref>

==NASA career==
{{Main|Apollo 14}}
[[File:Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell.jpg|thumb|Mitchell stands with the United States' flag on the Moon, 1971]]
[[File:Mitchell Studies Map - GPN-2000-001146.jpg|thumb|right|Mitchell studies a map while walking on the Moon, February 6, 1971]]
[[File:S71-19474 (25910945732).jpg|thumb|A U.S. Navy diver helps Mitchell out of the Command Module, 1971]]
Mitchell was selected in 1966 as part of [[NASA Astronaut Group 5|NASA's fifth astronaut group]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28240973/the_high_point_enterprise/|title=19 New Spacemen Are Named|last1=Thompson|first1=Ronald|newspaper=The High Point Enterprise|location=High Point, North Carolina|date=April 5, 1966|page=2A|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He was assigned to the support crew for [[Apollo 9]], then was designated as backup [[Apollo Lunar Module|Lunar Module]] Pilot for [[Apollo 10]]. This placed him in rotation for Apollo 13, but his crew was switched to Apollo 14 so that Commander [[Alan Shepard]], who had been grounded by a [[Ménière's disease|medical problem]] since the [[Project Gemini|Gemini program]], could train longer.<ref name="Space.comObit">[http://www.space.com/31853-edgar-mitchell-apollo-14-astronaut-obituary.html Space.com Edgar Mitchell Obituary]</ref>

During the [[Apollo 13]] crisis, Mitchell was a part of the [[Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team]] and as such was awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by President [[Richard M. Nixon]] in 1970. He worked in an Apollo simulator to help bring the crew back. One issue he worked on was how to "fly" (meaning [[Spacecraft attitude control|control the attitude of]]) the Lunar Module with an inert [[Apollo Command/Service Module]] attached to it. (Usually, it was the other way around, but the Service Module was damaged during that mission.)<ref name="Space.comObit"/>

He then went to serve as Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 14, landing with Shepard aboard the Lunar Module ''Antares'' on February 5, 1971, in the hilly upland [[Fra Mauro formation|Fra Mauro Highlands]] region of the Moon. They stayed on the Moon for 33 hours, deployed and activated [[Geology of the Moon#Lunar landscape|lunar surface]] scientific equipment and experiments, and collected almost 100 pounds of lunar samples for return to Earth. Other Apollo 14 achievements include: only use of the Mobile Equipment Transporter (MET); first successful use of color television with a new [[Video camera tube#Vidicon|Vidicon]] tube; longest distance traversed on foot on the lunar surface;<ref name="NASAobit">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/apollo-astronaut-edgar-mitchell-dies-at-age-85 |title=NASA - Apollo Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Dies at Age 85 |access-date=December 21, 2016 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714053518/https://www.nasa.gov/feature/apollo-astronaut-edgar-mitchell-dies-at-age-85/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> largest payload placed in lunar orbit; first use of shortened lunar orbit [[Space rendezvous|rendezvous]] techniques; and first extensive orbital science period conducted during CSM solo operations.<ref name=edmitchellbio/>

In completing his first space flight, Mitchell logged a total of 216 hours and 42 minutes in space. He was subsequently designated to serve as backup Lunar Module Pilot for [[Apollo 16]].

During the mission, he took photos, including the one with Shepard raising the American flag. In the photo, Mitchell's shadow is cast over the lunar surface near the flag. That photo was listed on ''[[Popular Science]]''{{'}}s photo gallery of the best [[Space selfie|astronaut selfies]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Best Astronaut Selfies|date=October 3, 2013 |url=http://www.popsci.com/gallery/best-astronaut-selfies|publisher=Popular Science Magazine|access-date=December 27, 2013}}</ref>

{{blockquote|You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that, you son of a bitch."|Mitchell on the [[overview effect]] after seeing the Earth from the Moon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/416837-you-develop-an-instant-global-consciousness-a-people-orientation-an|title=Quote by Edgar Mitchell: "You develop an instant global consciousness, a ..."|work=Goodreads}}</ref>}}

==Post-NASA career==
Mitchell's interests included consciousness and [[paranormal]] phenomena. On his way back to Earth during the Apollo 14 flight he had a powerful [[savikalpa|savikalpa samādhi]] experience,<ref>[https://ascentmagazine.com/articles.aspx%3FarticleID=195&page=read&subpage=past&issueID=30.html samadhi in space – an interview with apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell]</ref> and he claimed to have conducted private [[Extrasensory perception|ESP]] experiments with his friends on Earth.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/5/esp.php | title = Private Lunar ESP: An Interview with Edgar Mitchell }}</ref> The results of these experiments were published in the ''Journal of Parapsychology'' in 1971.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.skepdic.com/refuge/entangledreview.html | title = Book Review:Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality by Dean Radin (Paraview Pocket Books 2006) by Robert T. Carroll }}</ref>

He retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy with the rank of [[Captain (United States O-6)|captain]] in October 1972.<ref name=edmitchellbio/> Immediately thereafter, he founded Edgar D. Mitchell & Associates of [[Monterey, California]], a "commercial organization promoting ecologically-pure products and services designed to alleviate planetary problems."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ebdir.net/enlighten/mitchell.html|title = Dr. Edgar D. Mitchell - Founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences}}</ref>

After moving to [[Atherton, California]], he became founding chairman of the [[Institute of Noetic Sciences]] (IONS) in [[Palo Alto, California]] in 1973 for the purpose of [[consciousness]] research and other "related phenomena".<ref name="Time mag">{{cite magazine | url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1910599_1910685_1910665,00.html | title=40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing; Edgar Mitchell | publisher=Time magazine | date=July 16, 2009 | access-date=October 7, 2013 | author=Kluger, Jeffrey | magazine=Time | page=17}}</ref><ref name="NASAobit"/> "Science and religion have lived on opposite sides of the street now for hundreds of years," Mitchell said toward the end of his life. "So here we are, in the twenty-first century, trying to put two faces of reality—the existence face and the intelligence or conscious face—into the same understanding. Body and mind, physicality and consciousness belong to the same side of reality.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Astronaut Who Never Came Down |url= https://www.theattic.space/home-page-blogs/2019/7/12/the-astronaut-who-became-one-with-the-universe |website=The Attic|access-date=July 31, 2019}}</ref>

Journalist [[Annie Jacobsen]] has asserted that Mitchell's Mind Science Institute (a [[Los Angeles, California]]-based organization ultimately subsumed by the Institute of Noetic Sciences) was employed by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) as a surreptitious conduit for payments to [[Andrija Puharich]] and [[Uri Geller]] while the latter was evaluated by an [[SRI International]] research group (led by [[Harold E. Puthoff]] and [[Russell Targ]]) in 1972.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TGKfDAAAQBAJ&q=%22mind+science+institute%22+%22edgar+mitchell%22&pg=PT339 | title=Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis| isbn=9780316349376| last1=Jacobsen| first1=Annie| date=March 28, 2017| publisher=Little, Brown}}</ref> In 1976, Mitchell attempted to secure additional funding for the SRI group's [[remote viewing]] research in a private meeting with then-[[Director of Central Intelligence]] [[George H. W. Bush]], who knew Mitchell socially. Although Bush demurred (citing post-[[Watergate]] investigations of the intelligence community), he suggested the pursuit of military sponsorship, leading to the formation of the [[Stargate Project (U.S. Army unit)|Stargate Project]] in 1978.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TGKfDAAAQBAJ&q=bush&pg=PT339 |title = Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis|isbn = 9780316349376|last1 = Jacobsen|first1 = Annie|date = March 28, 2017| publisher=Little, Brown }}</ref>

From 1974 to 1978, he was president of the [[Palm Beach, Florida]]-based Edgar Mitchell Corporation. In 1975, he moved to nearby [[Lantana, Florida]], where he resided for the rest of his life.<ref name=edmitchellbio/> He co-founded the [[Association of Space Explorers]] in 1983 and later served as chairman of the Mitchell Communications Company.<ref name="NASAobit"/><ref>[https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a14/a14.crew.html NASA.gov]</ref>

Mitchell's heretofore undisclosed experimentation with [[LSD]] was reported by writer [[David Jay Brown]] in ''The New Science of Psychedelics: At the Nexus of Culture, Consciousness, and Spirituality'' (2013). Although he favorably compared the sensations of the [[psychedelic experience]] to his time in zero gravity, it remains unclear if his use preceded or followed Apollo 14.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ml8oDwAAQBAJ&q=edgar%20mitchell | isbn=978-1-62055-142-4 | title=The New Science of Psychedelics: At the Nexus of Culture, Consciousness, and Spirituality | date=May 5, 2013 | publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>

In 1997, Mitchell was interviewed for NASA's oral history program.<ref name="NASAobit"/> In one excerpt from that, he talked about how he was drawn to the space program:<ref name="NASAobit"/>
{{blockquote|After Kennedy announced the moon program, that's what I wanted, because it was the bear going over the mountain to see what he could see, and what could you learn, and I've been devoted to that, to exploration, education, and discovery since my earliest years, and that's what kept me going.|Edgar Mitchell<ref name="NASAobit"/>}}

On June 29, 2011, the [[federal government of the United States]] filed a lawsuit against Mitchell in the [[United States district court]] in [[Miami]], [[Florida]] after discovering that he placed a camera used on Apollo 14 for auction at the auction house [[Bonhams]]. The litigation requested the camera be returned to NASA. Mitchell's position was that NASA had given him the camera as a gift upon the completion of the Apollo 14 mission. Bonhams withdrew the camera from auction.<ref>{{cite news |title=Government Sues Apollo Astronaut Over Moon Camera |url=http://www.space.com/12141-moon-camera-apollo-astronaut-lawsuit.html |access-date=October 28, 2011 |newspaper=Space.com|date=July 1, 2011 |author=SPACE.com Staff}}</ref> In October 2011, attorneys representing the government and Mitchell reached a settlement agreement, and Mitchell agreed to return the camera to NASA, which in turn would donate it for display at the [[National Air and Space Museum]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Wides-Munuz |first=Laura| title=Prosecutors Settle With Apollo Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Who Tried to Sell Camera Used on Moon |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/us-prosecutors-settle-apollo-astronaut-14834314 |access-date=October 28, 2011 |newspaper=ABC News |date=October 28, 2011}}</ref> On September 20, 2012, Congress enacted H.R. 4158, confirming full ownership rights of artifacts to astronauts on [[Apollo program|Apollo]] (and [[Project Mercury|Mercury]] and [[Project Gemini|Gemini]]) space missions.

===Remote healing===
Mitchell claimed that a teenage remote [[Alternative medicine|healer]] living in [[Vancouver]] and using the pseudonym "Adam Dreamhealer" helped him heal [[kidney cancer]] from a distance. Mitchell said that while he never had a [[biopsy]], "I had a sonogram and MRI that was consistent with renal [[carcinoma]]." Adam worked (distantly) on Mitchell from December 2003 until June 2004, when the "irregularity was gone and we haven't seen it since".<ref>{{Cite news|title=The Big Bird, the Big Lie, God, and Science|author=Jill Neimark|magazine=[[Skeptical Inquirer]]|volume=30|issue=2|date=March–April 2006|author-link=Jill Neimark}}</ref>

===Views on UFOs===
Mitchell publicly expressed his opinions that he was "90 percent sure that many of the thousands of [[unidentified flying object]]s, or UFOs, recorded since the 1940s, belong to visitors from other planets".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/1998/oct/m12-010.shtml | title = Edgar Mitchell On The UFO Cover-Up |work=UFO UpDates | url-access=subscription | date = October 11, 1998 | access-date = February 7, 2007 | url-status = usurped |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070128032704/http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/1998/oct/m12-010.shtml <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = January 28, 2007}}</ref> ''[[Dateline NBC]]'' conducted an interview with Mitchell on April 19, 1996, during which he discussed meeting with officials from three countries who claimed to have had personal encounters with extraterrestrials. He offered his opinion that the evidence for such "alien" contact was "very strong" and "classified" by governments, who were covering up visitations and the existence of alien beings' bodies in places such as Roswell, New Mexico. He further claimed that UFOs had provided "sonic engineering secrets" that were helpful to the U.S. government. Mitchell's 1996 book, ''The Way of the Explorer'', discusses his journey into mysticism and space.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc1923.htm | title = Interview on Dateline NBC April 19, 1996 | access-date = May 27, 2009 | work = UFO Evidence}}</ref>

In 2004, he told the ''[[Tampa Bay Times|St. Petersburg Times]]'' that a "cabal of insiders" in the U.S. government were studying recovered alien bodies, and that this group had stopped briefing U.S. Presidents after [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref name=spbtimes>{{cite web | url = http://www.sptimes.com/2004/02/18/Neighborhoodtimes/Astronaut__We_ve_had_.shtml | title = Astronaut: We've had visitors | date = February 18, 2004 | access-date = October 14, 2007 | author = Waveney Ann Moore | work = [[Tampa Bay Times|St. Petersburg Times]] }}</ref> He said, "We all know that UFOs are real; now the question is where they come from."<ref>Visitors from space, Vieraita taivaalta, TV program of [[Juhan af Grann]] from the beginning of 1990s</ref>
[[File:EdgarMitchellByPhilKonstantin.jpg|thumb|Edgar Mitchell, February 2009]]
On July 23, 2008, Edgar Mitchell was interviewed on [[Kerrang Radio]] by [[Nick Margerrison]]. Mitchell claimed the [[Roswell UFO incident|Roswell crash]] was real and that [[Extraterrestrial life|aliens]] have contacted humans several times, but that governments have hidden the truth for 60 years, stating: "I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet, and the UFO phenomenon is real." In reply, a spokesman for [[NASA]] stated on the Skeptoid Podcast with [[Brian Dunning (author)|Brian Dunning]]: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover-up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue."<ref name=Skeptoid>{{Skeptoid|id=4218|number=218|title=The Astronauts and the Aliens|access-date=December 27, 2016}}</ref>

In an interview with [[Fox News]] on July 25, 2008, Mitchell clarified that his comments did not involve NASA, but quoted unnamed sources, since deceased, at [[Roswell, New Mexico|Roswell]] who confided to him that the Roswell incident did involve an alien craft. Mitchell also claims to have subsequently received confirmation from an unnamed intelligence officer at [[the Pentagon]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwE0vDuTm48| title = Commenting on recent disclosure with Kerrang Radio | date =July 25, 2008| work = [[Fox News Channel]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Former astronaut: Man not alone in universe | publisher = CNN | date = April 20, 2009 | url = http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/20/ufo.conference/index.html | access-date = May 27, 2009 }}</ref>

In an interview for [[AskMen]] published March 6, 2014, Mitchell said that he had never seen a UFO,<ref name = Skeptoid/> that no one had ever threatened him over his claims regarding UFOs, and that any statements about the covering up of UFOs being a worldwide cabal was "just speculation on my part".<ref>{{cite web|last=Clash|first=Jim|title=Ed Mitchell Interview|url=http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/right-stuff/ed-mitchell-interview.html|publisher=[[AskMen]]|access-date=March 7, 2014|archive-date=March 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307103034/http://www.askmen.com/entertainment/right-stuff/ed-mitchell-interview.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2015, Mitchell said in an interview with the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' that extraterrestrials "had been attempting to keep us from going to war [with Russia] and help create peace on Earth." He also said that "White Sands was a testing ground for atomic weapons—and that's what the extraterrestrials were interested in. They wanted to know about our military capabilities."<ref name=Mirror>Hammill, Jasper [https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/peace-loving-aliens-tried-save-6235113 'Peace-loving aliens tried to save America from nuclear war,' claims moon mission astronaut Edgar Mitchell], Mirror Online Web site, August 17, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.</ref>

===Other projects===
Edgar Mitchell appeared in the documentaries ''[[In the Shadow of the Moon (2007 film)|In the Shadow of the Moon]]'' (2007), ''The Phoenix Lights...We Are Not Alone'', and ''[[The Living Matrix]]'' (2009).

Mitchell wrote several articles and essays as well as several books. In ''The Way of the Explorer'', Mitchell proposed a [[:wikt:dyad|dyadic]] model of reality.<ref name=dyad>[http://www.shiftinaction.com/node/94 "Dyadic Model of Reality"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513052751/http://www.shiftinaction.com/node/94 |date=May 13, 2008 }}, IONS, by Doris Lora, December 2003</ref>

He was the [[Advisory board|Advisory Board]] [[Chairman]] of the Institute for Cooperation in Space, co-founded by [[Carol Rosin]],<ref name=icis>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100610184459/http://www.peaceinspace.com/ab_board.shtml "ICIS Board of Directors & Advisors"], Institute for Cooperation in Space</ref> and a member of {{Interlanguage link|Institute for Research on Extraordinary Experiences|lt=INREES|fr|Institut de recherche sur les expériences extraordinaires}}.

Mitchell was one of the initial supporters of the Campaign for the Establishment of a [[United Nations Parliamentary Assembly]], which would be a first step towards a "world parliament".<ref name=unpa>[http://www.unpacampaign.org/documents/en/APPEAL_BYNAME.pdf "List of Initial Signatories"]</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Edgar Mitchell's memorial wreath in the Apollo 14 exhibit.jpg|thumb|Edgar Mitchell's memorial in the ''Treasures of Apollo'' exhibit at Kennedy Space Center]]
[[File:Apollo 14 command module with Edgar Mitchell's memorial wreath.jpg|thumb|Apollo 14 command module ''Kitty Hawk'', Mitchell's memorial wreath nearby]]
Mitchell died under [[hospice]] care in [[West Palm Beach, Florida]], at the age of 85, on February 4, 2016,<ref name="nytimesobit">{{cite web|last1=Goldstein|first1=Richard|title=Edgar D. Mitchell, Sixth Moonwalking Astronaut, Dies at 85|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/science/space/edgar-d-mitchell-sixth-moonwalking-astronaut-dies-at-85.html?_r=0|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 6, 2016|page=A21|date=February 5, 2016}}</ref><ref name="palm">{{Cite web | url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/apollo-14-astronaut-edgar-mitchell-85-dies-in-west/nqKdg/ | title=Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, 85, dies in West Palm Beach | work=[[The Palm Beach Post]] | date=February 5, 2016 | access-date=February 5, 2016 | archive-date=February 5, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205200217/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/apollo-14-astronaut-edgar-mitchell-85-dies-in-west/nqKdg/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> the eve of the 45th anniversary of his lunar landing.<ref name="NASAobit"/> As Roosa and Shepard had died in the 1990s, Mitchell was the last surviving member of the Apollo 14 crew.<ref name="Space.comObit"/>

==Organizations==
Mitchell was a member of the [[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]]; the [[Society of Experimental Test Pilots]]; [[Sigma Xi]]; [[Sigma Gamma Tau]], [[New York Academy of Sciences]]; [[The Explorers Club]]; World Futures Society; International Platform Association; and he was also an honorary member of the [[Radio and Television Correspondents' Association]].<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceacts.com/STARSHIP/seh/mitchell.htm|title=Astronaut Bio: Edgar Dean Mitchell (Captain, USN, Ret.)|access-date=September 5, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032119/http://www.spaceacts.com/STARSHIP/seh/mitchell.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
* [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (1970)<ref name="Space.comObit"/>
* [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center|Manned Spacecraft Center]] Superior Achievement Award (1970)
* City of [[New York City|New York]] Gold Medal (1971)
* [[Arnold Air Society]]'s [[John F. Kennedy]] Award (1971)
* [[Astronaut badge#U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard astronauts|Navy Astronaut Wings]]
* [[Distinguished Service Medal (United States Navy)|Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]
* [[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]]
* [[Air Medal]]<ref name="mitchell-usn"/>
* [[National Defense Service Medal]] with [[Service star|bronze star]]<ref name="mitchell-usn"/>
* [[China Service Medal]]<ref name="mitchell-usn"/>
* three NASA Group Achievement Awards
* Inducted into the [[New Mexico Museum of Space History|International Space Hall of Fame]] (inducted 1979)
* Along with 24 other Apollo astronauts, inducted into the [[United States Astronaut Hall of Fame]] on October 4, 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://astronautscholarship.org/Astronauts/edgar-d-mitchell/|title=Edgar Mitchell – Astronaut Scholarship Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28283877/florida_today/|title=Ceremony to Honor Astronauts|newspaper=Florida Today|location=Cocoa, Florida|page=2B|date=October 2, 1997|last1=Meyer|first1=Marilyn|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Mitchell's other awards included:
* [[Honorary degree|Honorary Doctorates]] from:
** [[New Mexico State University]] (1971)
** Carnegie-Mellon University (1971)
** [[University of Akron]] (1979)
** [[Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University|Embry-Riddle University]] (1996)
* [[American Astronautical Society]]'s Flight Achievement Award
* Carnegie Mellon University Alumni, Outstanding Man of the Year (1972)
* [[Kappa Sigma]], Man of the Year Award (1972)
* [[Adventurers Club]], Gold Medal Award for Exploration
* [[Drexel University]], Engineering and Science Award for Explorations in Consciousness (1974)
* [[The Explorers Club]], Lowell Thomas Award for Explorations in Human Consciousness (1980)

==In media==
In the 1998 [[HBO]] [[miniseries]] ''[[From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)|From the Earth to the Moon]]'', Mitchell was played by [[Gary Cole]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120570/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast|title=From the Earth to the Moon: Full Cast and Crew|publisher=IMDb|access-date=January 9, 2018}}</ref>

He was the subject of a chapter of Chris Wright's book ''No More Worlds to Conquer'', which asks how people who are famed for one moment moved on with their life. In it he talked at length about his beliefs in extraterrestrial visitation, the power of the mind, and his certainty that his cancer had been cured "by mind means".

The climactic scene of the 2004 documentary ''[[Astronauts Gone Wild]]'' features an interview with Mitchell. After filmmaker [[Bart Sibrel]] questions Mitchell about various aspects of footage from the Apollo 11 mission, Mitchell and his son threaten to murder Sibrel and his assistant.<ref>{{Citation |title=Astronauts Gone Wild - MM6 | date=April 25, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr6Vcvl0OeU |language=en |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref>

==Books==
* ''Psychic Exploration: A Challenge for Science'' (1974), G. Putnam & Sons, {{ISBN|0-399-11342-8}}
* ''The Way of the Explorer: An Apollo Astronaut's Journey Through the Material and Mystical Worlds'' (1996), G. Putnam & Sons, hardcover, {{ISBN|0-399-14161-8}}, 2008 paperback edition: {{ISBN|1-56414-977-3}}, audio cassette edition: {{ISBN|1-57270-019-X}}
* ''Earthrise: My Adventures as an Apollo 14 Astronaut'' (2014), Chicago Review Press, hardcover, {{ISBN|1-61374-901-5}}

==See also==
* [[List of spaceflight records]]
* [[List of Apollo astronauts]]
* [[The Astronaut Monument]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20191110201617/https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_15-hm52f7m22r Interview with Edgar Mitchell for NOVA series: To the Moon] WGBH Educational Foundation, raw footage, 1998
* {{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/mitchell_edgar.pdf |title= Mitchell's official NASA biography |publisher=NASA |access-date=April 14, 2021 |date=September 2007}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100505204600/http://www.astronautix.com/astros/mitchell.htm Astronautix biography of Edgar Mitchell]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/mitchell_edgar.htm Spacefacts biography of Edgar Mitchell]
* [http://www.spaceacts.com/STARSHIP/seh/mitchell.htm Mitchell at Spaceacts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032119/http://www.spaceacts.com/STARSHIP/seh/mitchell.htm |date=March 4, 2016 }}
* [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/M/Mitchell.html Mitchell at Encyclopedia of Science]
* [http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=45 Mitchell at International Space Hall of Fame]
* {{IMDb name|0593307}}
* [http://www.inrees.com/en/membres.php?page=5 Edgar Mitchell, member of INREES] Institute for Research of Extraordinary Experiences
* {{C-SPAN|56620}}

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