Apollo Astronaut Alan Bean Dies At 86

HOUSTON, TX — Apollo astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth man in human history to walk on the lunar surface, died at Houston Methodist Hospital at the age of 86 on Saturday.

Bean, landed on the moon as part of the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969, making two lunar walks on that historic landing.

His family said in a release that Bean became ill about two weeks ago while traveling in Indiana, and died peacefully surrounded by his family.

Bean was a U.S. Navy test pilot, who in 1963 was tapped by NASA for the astronaut program along with his long-time friend Walter Cunningham.

"Alan and I have been best friends for 55 years — ever since the day we became astronauts," Cunningham, who flew on Apollo 7, told the Houston Chronicle. "When I became head of the Skylab Branch of the Astronaut Office, we worked together and Alan eventually commanded the second Skylab mission."

Bean was not only an astronaut, but an accomplished painter who painted Apollo-themed paintings for years.

However, when Bean became ill two weeks ago, his family and friends said he stopped painting.

“Alan was the strongest and kindest man I ever knew. He was the love of my life and I miss him dearly,” Leslie Bean, Alan Bean’s wife of 40 years told KPRC.

Image: Apollo Astronaut, Alan Bean of Apollo 12, speaks at NASA Headquarters on July 20, 2009, in Washington, DC, making the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and moon on walk by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin which took place on July 20, 1969. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

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