Fly Me to the Moon (and Back): Former Apollo 16 Astronaut Charlie Duke Speaks at WCU

For some, the sky is certainly not the limit.

On Sept. 11, students and visitors had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see guest speaker Charlie Duke, the former Apollo 16 astronaut and the youngest man to ever set foot on the Moon.

Hosted in the John W. Bardo Performing Arts Center, the event was limited to around one thousand seats. Duke and his wife Dorothy were greeted by an excited audience, which included students, families, faculty, alumni, and a handful of children in Space Camp flight suits. The audience marveled at the slideshow of pictures from the Apollo 16 mission as they awaited the entrance of this magnificent 83-year-old veteran.

Duke began his presentation by reflecting on his past; he received a B.S. in Naval Sciences from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1957, entered the U.S. Air Force upon graduation, and later earned a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from M.I.T. in 1964. A retired U.S. Air Force officer and test pilot, Duke was one of nineteen men that were selected for NASA’s astronaut training program. Duke served on Mission Control for missions Apollo 10 and 11, where he communicated with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they landed on the Moon. Little did he know at the time that one day, he would be following in their footsteps - literally.

Most of all, Duke talked about his experience as one of the pioneers of the NASA space program. “If I told my mama I was going to walk on the moon, [she] would have sent me to the psychiatric hospital,” Duke joked. After all, NASA was founded only a year after he joined the Air Force. Duke talked about the many issues that he and his fellow astronauts faced, of which there were several. “We had communication problems, we had computer problems, we had trajectory problems,” he told the audience. This is where Mission Control is vital, as they were able to help Duke and his fellow astronauts combat any problem that arose. “They couldn’t fix it, but they gave us some workarounds,” Duke said, as he shared clips of himself and fellow Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Ken Mattingly in the cockpit as they floated around, playing with food in zero gravity. 

Duke described landing on the Moon as overwhelming and beautiful. He joked with the audience, showing clips of himself where he struggled to maintain his balance on the Moon’s surface due to the low gravity and the unusual amount of weight added by his spacesuit. Duke said it was very difficult to work the suit, and the astronauts had to wear heart monitors to prevent overexertion. When the astronauts’ blood rate exceeded 140 beats per minute, Mission Control would tell them to stop. For Duke, this happened several times.

The Apollo 16 crew collected a total of 209 pounds of moon samples over the course of three days. After the third day, the crew left the lunar rover on the Moon as they took off to return home. “If you want an $8 million car with a dead battery, I can tell you where to go,” Duke joked.

After his presentation, Duke discussed his vision for the future of space exploration, telling the audience that he feels optimistic about the future, as industries such as space tourism are developing. Despite the shift from government-funded programs to the private sector, Duke feels that NASA will still play a significant role in space exploration as we look into revisiting the Moon, establishing a base there, and taking the first humans to Mars. It’s up to the next generation of engineers, scientists, and astronauts to get us to Mars and beyond.

This event was hosted by the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise (CFSE) as part of their Free Enterprise Speaker Series. For more information on upcoming events, visit enterprise.wcu.edu, or visit https://bit.ly/2kkk9oN to watch Charlie Duke’s entire presentation.