Print
E-mail
Comment
Apollo 11 40th Anniversary
  
|
By Joe Southern
He is the only other worldly artist on the planet. In the nearly 40 years since Alan Bean walked on the moon, only eight people have followed in his footsteps and none of them carried an easel or paintbrush. Bean – forever known as the fourth man to walk on the moon – didn’t take the time to paint moonscapes while he and the late Charles “Pete” Conrad made their lunar excursions back in 1969, but he has painted many of them since then.
“It’s American art like no other,” he said in a phone interview from his Houston home.
While the world marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing on July 20, Bean’s walks on the moon took place on Nov. 19-20 during the Apollo 12 mission. And while he may have been the No. 2 man on the No. 2 moon landing, he is one of only 12 to have ever been on the moon. Of those, only nine are still alive.
“Being on the moon was just luck. There is so much luck in life,” he said.
Bean was the Lunar Module Pilot. Conrad, his commander, was killed in a motorcycle accident July 8, 1999.
“Pete was a special guy. He was my favorite astronaut,” Bean said.
He added that Conrad was “a guy without a hidden agenda” and “a natural at his profession.”
“He had this saying that if you can’t be good, be colorful. He was always good,” Bean said.
The men made two excursions on the moon from the Intrepid lunar module while Richard F. Gordon circled above in the Yankee Clipper command module. While the mission was a success, it was one of Bean’s blunders that kept the world from witnessing much of it. He inadvertently pointed the television camera into the sun, damaging the unit and eliminating almost all video from the mission.
While there is a lack of video images from the Apollo 12 mission, Bean has supplied numerous paintings, more than adequately making up for lost imagery. His paintings depict actual events, other moon missions and flights of fancy.
“If I don’t do this, no one else will,” Bean said. “No one else can do this job in the whole world,” he said.
Former astronaut Scott Parazynski of Houston said he can relate to Bean’s work.
“I’ve met him (Bean) several times over the years and have always wanted to buy one of his paintings, but they’re way beyond the means of a government employee,” Parazynski said. “I think he’s a very talented artist with a real passion to share and relive his experiences on the moon. When I look at his scenes I can easily imagine myself on the inside of the bubble visor, looking out onto the lunar landscapes and back towards Earth.”
Bean has a dedicated following among private collectors, some who pay up to $175,000 for one of his works. This month, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington will show 45 of his works and release a book of reproductions of his paintings.
Bean calls his passion for art his mission.
“I’m trying to tell stories that I know about. … I know a lot of stories that will not be told if I don’t tell them,” he said.
He noted that while he may no longer be around in years to come, his art could potentially remain for thousands of years.
“I left the space program to do these paintings to tell of this great adventure,” he said.
Bean returned to space in 1973 as commander of the second Skylab mission from July 29 to Sept. 25. With him on that 59-day flight were Dr. Owen K. Garriott and Lt. Col. Jack R. Lousma.
“To me it was much more fulfilling than going to the moon. To me, it was my finest hour,” he said.
He said being experienced and better trained made him a better astronaut than he was on his first mission.
“I was as good as I could get,” he said.
Bean was preparing to enter the next phase of space flight and was training to fly on the space shuttle when friends encouraged him to take up painting full time.
“People would say to me that you’re the only artist that’s been anywhere other than the earth,” he said.
Of course, being an artist and being an astronaut means utilizing both sides of the brain – something few people do with any degree of success.
“If I’m painting well in my right brain and if somebody calls me and wants to talk about left-brained stuff, I can’t get there real quick,” he said.
Looking ahead, Bean plans to continue his art – he uses items from his mission such as a hammer, a boot print and moon dust from his uniform to enhance his work – while he waits for man to return to the moon and go on to Mars.
“I don’t see us going back to the moon for 60 years,” he said.
At the time he was on the moon, he thought for sure he would live to see men walk on Mars. Now, at age 77, he has his doubts that will happen in his lifetime.
For now he continues to feel blessed and lucky for the things he did 40 years ago.
“It’s the most wonderful thing humans have done and we did it for all the right reasons,” he said.
“It’s American art like no other,” he said in a phone interview from his Houston home.
While the world marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing on July 20, Bean’s walks on the moon took place on Nov. 19-20 during the Apollo 12 mission. And while he may have been the No. 2 man on the No. 2 moon landing, he is one of only 12 to have ever been on the moon. Of those, only nine are still alive.
“Being on the moon was just luck. There is so much luck in life,” he said.
Bean was the Lunar Module Pilot. Conrad, his commander, was killed in a motorcycle accident July 8, 1999.
“Pete was a special guy. He was my favorite astronaut,” Bean said.
He added that Conrad was “a guy without a hidden agenda” and “a natural at his profession.”
“He had this saying that if you can’t be good, be colorful. He was always good,” Bean said.
The men made two excursions on the moon from the Intrepid lunar module while Richard F. Gordon circled above in the Yankee Clipper command module. While the mission was a success, it was one of Bean’s blunders that kept the world from witnessing much of it. He inadvertently pointed the television camera into the sun, damaging the unit and eliminating almost all video from the mission.
While there is a lack of video images from the Apollo 12 mission, Bean has supplied numerous paintings, more than adequately making up for lost imagery. His paintings depict actual events, other moon missions and flights of fancy.
“If I don’t do this, no one else will,” Bean said. “No one else can do this job in the whole world,” he said.
Former astronaut Scott Parazynski of Houston said he can relate to Bean’s work.
“I’ve met him (Bean) several times over the years and have always wanted to buy one of his paintings, but they’re way beyond the means of a government employee,” Parazynski said. “I think he’s a very talented artist with a real passion to share and relive his experiences on the moon. When I look at his scenes I can easily imagine myself on the inside of the bubble visor, looking out onto the lunar landscapes and back towards Earth.”
Bean has a dedicated following among private collectors, some who pay up to $175,000 for one of his works. This month, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington will show 45 of his works and release a book of reproductions of his paintings.
Bean calls his passion for art his mission.
“I’m trying to tell stories that I know about. … I know a lot of stories that will not be told if I don’t tell them,” he said.
He noted that while he may no longer be around in years to come, his art could potentially remain for thousands of years.
“I left the space program to do these paintings to tell of this great adventure,” he said.
Bean returned to space in 1973 as commander of the second Skylab mission from July 29 to Sept. 25. With him on that 59-day flight were Dr. Owen K. Garriott and Lt. Col. Jack R. Lousma.
“To me it was much more fulfilling than going to the moon. To me, it was my finest hour,” he said.
He said being experienced and better trained made him a better astronaut than he was on his first mission.
“I was as good as I could get,” he said.
Bean was preparing to enter the next phase of space flight and was training to fly on the space shuttle when friends encouraged him to take up painting full time.
“People would say to me that you’re the only artist that’s been anywhere other than the earth,” he said.
Of course, being an artist and being an astronaut means utilizing both sides of the brain – something few people do with any degree of success.
“If I’m painting well in my right brain and if somebody calls me and wants to talk about left-brained stuff, I can’t get there real quick,” he said.
Looking ahead, Bean plans to continue his art – he uses items from his mission such as a hammer, a boot print and moon dust from his uniform to enhance his work – while he waits for man to return to the moon and go on to Mars.
“I don’t see us going back to the moon for 60 years,” he said.
At the time he was on the moon, he thought for sure he would live to see men walk on Mars. Now, at age 77, he has his doubts that will happen in his lifetime.
For now he continues to feel blessed and lucky for the things he did 40 years ago.
“It’s the most wonderful thing humans have done and we did it for all the right reasons,” he said.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
