Portrait of Pete Conrad Courtesy of NASA

Charles "Pete" Conrad was an American astronaut who was born on June 2, 1930, in Pennsylvania. Before he became an astronaut, Conrad served as a Naval test pilot.

Conrad became an astronaut in 1962. He has spent over 1180 hours in space on 4 spaceflights. He is known for having one of the most incredible careers of any astronaut.

In 1965, Conrad piloted Gemini 5. He and his partner, Gordon Cooper, set an endurance record of 191 hours on this mission. Conrad made his second spaceflight aboard Gemini 11 in 1966. This mission made an altitude record of 850 miles.

Conrad became the third person to walk on the moon in 1969. He commanded the Apollo 12 mission of which he collected moon samples. When Conrad stepped onto the lunar surface, the short man said, "Whoopie! That may have been one small [step] for Neil, but it's a long one for me!"

Conrad made his last spaceflight in 1973 on Skylab 2. Conrad and his crew set another endurance record of 28 days during this mission.

Conrad died in 1999 from a motocycle accident. The 69 year old is survived by his wife and three sons.