On January 31, 1971, Navy Captain Dr. Edgar Mitchell embarked on a journey into outer space that resulted in becoming the sixth man to walk on the moon. The Apollo 14 mission was NASA’s third manned lunar landing. This historic journey ended safely nine days later on February 9, 1971. It was an audacious time in the history of mankind. For Mitchell, however, the most extraordinary journey was yet to come.
As he hurtled earthward through the abyss between the two worlds, Mitchell became engulfed by a profound sensation “a sense of universal connectedness.” He intuitively sensed that his presence, that of his fellow astronauts, and that of the planet in the window were all part of a deliberate, universal process and that the glittering cosmos itself was in some way conscious. The experience was so overwhelming Mitchell knew his life would never be the same.
Scientist, test pilot, naval officer, astronaut, entrepreneur, author and lecturer, Dr.Mitchell’s extraordinary career personifies humankind’s eternal thrust to widen its horizons as well as its inner soul.
His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University, a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and a Doctor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. In addition he has received honorary doctorates in engineering from New Mexico State University, the University of Akron, Carnegie Mellon University and a ScD from Embry-Riddle University.
Dr. Mitchell has received many awards and honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the USN Distinguished Medal and three NASA Group Achievement Awards. He was inducted to the Space Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Astronaut Hall of Fame in1998. He was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
After retiring from the Navy in 1972, Dr. Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciencesto sponsor research into the nature of consciousness as it relates to cosmology and causality. In 1984, he was a co-founder of the Association of Space Explorers, an international organization of those who have experienced space travel.
He is the author of “Psychic Exploration,” 1974, TheWay of the Explorer, 1996, as well as dozens of articles in both professional and popular periodicals. He has devoted the last 38 years to studying human consciousness and psychic and paranormal phenomena in the search for a common ground between science and spirit.
Photo by: Robert M. Knight
