
NAME: Stuart Allen Roosa, Colonel, USAF (Ret.)
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Born August 16, 1933, in
Durango, Colorado. His parents, Mr. And
Mrs. Dewey Roosa, now reside in Oologah, Oklahoma.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: red hair; blue eyes;
height: 5 feet 10 inches; weight: 165 pounds.
EDUCATION: Attended Justice Grade School and Claremore
High School in Claremore, Oklahoma; studied at Oklahoma State University and
the University of Arizona and was graduated with honors and a Bachelor of
Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Colorado;
presented and Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of St. Thomas
(Houston, Texas) in 1971; completed the Advanced Management Course at Harvard
Business School in 1973.
MARITAL STATUS: His wife is the former
Joan C. Barrett of Tupelo, Mississippi; and her mother, Mrs. John T. Barrett,
resides in Sessums, Mississippi.
CHILDREN: Christopher A., June 29,
1959; John D., January 2, 1961; Stuart A., Jr., March 12, 1962; Rosemary D., July 23, 1963.
RECREATIONAL
INTERESTS: Hobbies are hunting,
fishing, and golf.
ORGANIZATIONS:
New
York Safari Club
Board
of Directors, People-to-People Sports Committee
Hunting
Hall of Fame
Circumnavigators
Club
Explorers
Club
Confederate
Air Force
Shikar-Safari-Club
Gulfport
Yacht Club
SPECIAL HONORS: Presented the NASA
Distinguished Service Medal; the JSC Superior Achievement Award (1970); the Air
Force Command Pilot Astronaut Wings; the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal;
the Arnold Air Society’s John F. Kennedy Award (1971); the City of New York
Gold Medal in 1971; The American Astronautical Society’s Flight Achievement
Award for 1971; the Order of Chad (1973); and the Order of Central African
Empire (1973).
EXPERIENCE: Roosa retired as a Colonel from the Air Force in
1976. His active duty was from 1953 to
1976. Prior to joining NASA, he was an
experimental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, California—and assignment he
held from September 1965 to May 1966, following graduation from the Aerospace
Research Pilots School.
He
was a maintenance flight test pilot at Olmstead Air Force Base, Pennsylvania,
from July 1962 to August 1964, flying F-101 aircraft. He served as Chief of Service Engineering (AFLC) at Tachikawa Air
Base for two years following graduation from the University of Colorado under
the Air Force Institute of technology Program.
Prior to this tour of duty, he was assigned as a fighter pilot at
Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where he flew the F-84F and F-100 aircraft.
He
attended Gunnery School at Del Rio and Luke Air Force Bases and is a graduate of the Aviation Cadet Program at
Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, where he received his flight training
commission in the Air Force.
He
logged 5,500 hours of flying time—5,000 hours in jet aircraft.
Colonel
Roosa was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He was a member of the astronaut support
crew for the Apollo 9 flight.
He
completed his first space flight as command module pilot on Apollo 14, January
31 – February 9, 1971. With him on
man’s third lunar landing mission were Alan B.
Shepard (Spacecraft commander) and Edgar D. Mitchell (lunar module
pilot).
Maneuvering
their lunar module, “Antares,” to a
landing in the hilly upland Far Mauaro region of the moon, Shepard and Mitchell
subsequently deployed and activated various scientific equipment and
experiments and proceeded to collect almost 100 pounds of lunar samples for
return to earth. Throughout this
33-hour period of lunar surface activities, Roosa remained in lunar orbit
aboard the command module, “Kittyhawk,” to conduct a variety of assigned
photographic and visual observations.
Apollo 14 achievements include:
first use of the Mobile Equipment Transporter (MET); largest payload
placed in lunar orbit; longest distance traversed on the lunar surface; largest
payload returned from the lunar surface; longest lunar surface stay time (33
hours); longest lunar surface EVA (9 hours and 17 minutes); first use of color
TV with a new vidicon tube on lunar surface; the first extensive orbital
science period conducted during CSM solo operations.
In
completing his first space flight, Roosa logged a total of 216 hours and 42
minutes.
He
served as backup command pilot for the Apollo 16 and 17 missions, and was
assigned to the Space Shuttle Program until his retirement in 1976.
From
February 5, 1976 to July 1, 1977, Colonel Roosa served as Corporate Vice
President, International Operations, U.S. Industries, Inc., Oak Brook,
Illinois, and the President, USI Middle East Development Company, Ltd., Athens,
Greece. Performed assessment at
corporate level, establishing areas of marketing potential and schedule of
priorities for U>S> industries, Inc., Throughout the Middle East
region. Initiated product development
activities of appropriate divisions of U.S.
Industries to better insure product compatibility with requirements of
Middle East Countries.
July,
1977 to March, 1981, Vice President Advanced Planning, Charles Kenneth Campbell
Investments. Commercial real estate
development.
March
1981 to present, president and owner Gulf Coast Coors, Inc., Gulfport,
Mississippi.