Lunar Salute: Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott salutes the American flag at the Hadley-Apennine lunar landing site. The Lunar Module "Falcon" is partially visible on the right. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

Former NASA astronaut and retired Air Force colonel David R. Scott will present “The Air Force in Space – and on the Moon: The Flights of Apollo 9 and Apollo 15″ during a special presentation TODAY, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Scott began his professional career after graduating fifth in his class at West Point in 1954.

After completing flying training, he served as an Air Force fighter pilot stationed in the Netherlands until 1960. He then earned two graduate degrees at MIT, followed by completing the Air Force Test Pilot School. In 1963 he was selected in the third group of NASA astronauts.

During the next eight years, he flew three space missions: Gemini VIII, the first docking in space, March 1966; Apollo 9, the first test flight of all spacecraft and flight operations for the Apollo lunar mission (except landing), March 1969; and Apollo 15, July 1971, for which, as commander, he received NASA’s highest award “for leading the most complex and carefully planned scientific expedition in the history of exploration.”

During 1997, Scott was the technical advisor to the director of the movie “Apollo 13,” Ron Howard. Subsequently, during 1998, he was technical advisor on all 10 episodes of the Emmy award winning HBO TV series, “From the Earth to the Moon,” produced by Tom Hanks.

During 2005, he was technical consultant on the 3D IMAX® film, “Magnificent Desolation,” depicting Apollo lunar surface activities, produced by Tom Hanks and the IMAX Corp.
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