Gerald Carr

Gerald Paul Carr (August 22, 1932August 26, 2020) was an American mechanical and aeronautical engineer, United States Marine Corps officer and aviator, and NASA astronaut. He was commander of Skylab 4, the third and final crewed visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop, from November 16, 1973, to February 8, 1974. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Carr was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on graduation in 1954, and trained as an aviator.

In April 1966, he was selected by NASA as one of the nineteen new astronauts. He served as a member of the support crews and as Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for the Apollo 8 and Apollo 12 missions and was in line to walk on the Moon as lunar module pilot of Apollo 19 before that mission was canceled in 1970. Carr and his Skylab 4 crew spent 84 days in space on the Skylab 4 mission, setting a new world record for individual time in space.

He retired from the Marine Corps as colonel in September 1975, and from NASA in June 1977, and became an engineering consultant.