Moon walker: Apollo 16 astronaut returns to Johnston for Peach Blossom Festival

May 6—JOHNSTON — Fifty-one years after he walked on the moon, Charles Duke returned to the town where he lived briefly as a child.

The Apollo 16 astronaut served as the grand marshal of the Peach Blossom Festival's parade Saturday.

"I'm a very sentimental guy. I like to recall old times," said Duke during a press conference at the Edgefield County Chamber of Commerce's office.

"It feels good to be back," he added. "I love Johnston."

World War II was underway when Duke, who is a native of North Carolina, moved to Edgefield County.

"I was here in the third and fourth grade with my twin brother," he said. "We were staying with my grandmother. My dad was in the South Pacific. My boyhood heroes were the generation that was fighting in the war."

Those heroes inspired Duke to attend the U.S. Naval Academy and serve in the military, where he fell in love with airplanes, became a pilot and pursued a career in flight that eventually took him to outer space.

Of the 12 men who have walked on the moon, only Duke, 87, and three others are still alive.

Accompanying Duke on the Apollo 16 mission in April 1972 were John Young and Ken Mattingly.

"It was a great adventure," Duke said.

He was the lunar module's pilot, and Young traveled with him to the moon's surface for what would be the first scientific exploration of the satellite's highlands.

"In the photographs that we studied of our landing area, you could only see objects bigger than 45 feet. Well, there are a lot of objects on the moon less than 45 feet," Duke said. "As we started landing, we started seeing all of the craters and rocks and stuff, so we had to maneuver the spacecraft [to avoid hitting them]. It was a very dynamic landing in the last minute or two."

Duke and Young remained on the moon for 71 hours and 14 minutes.

"I was bubbly with excitement the whole time we were there," Duke said. "We collected over 200 pounds of moon rocks. We did a lot of good science and contributed a lot to the knowledge of the moon and the universe that we were studying. We had a camera that was specially designed to look at the ultraviolet and infrared spectrums around the Earth and off into space."

Even though Duke and Young were busy, there were moments when they were able to pause and enjoy their surroundings.

The moon "is beautiful," Duke said. "Buzz Aldrin (another astronaut) called it 'magnificent desolation.' I can still remember the wonder and awe."

Duke and Young also had some fun, but Duke got into a little trouble as a result.

"At the end of the mission, we had a few minutes, and even though we were running behind on the schedule, we decided to do the Moon Olympics," Duke said.

The events were the high jump and the long jump.

"With all of my equipment on, I weighed 363 pounds on Earth, but on the moon, it was only 60 pounds," Duke said. "We started springing up and down, and then I jumped. And when I did, I straightened up. My center of gravity went into my backpack and over I went backwards."

For Duke, it was a scary situation.

"I call it the backpack, but it was my life support system. And if it broke, you were dead, so I had a moment of fear, no question about it," he said.

Fortunately, Duke reacted by rolling to the right.

"I landed on my right hand and my right foot, and broke my fall," he said. "My heart was pounding. I'm on the moon and looking up, and there is the Earth right out in front of me. John Young comes over and says, 'That wasn't very smart, Charlie.' Mission Control was very upset with that fall, so they canceled the rest of the Moon Olympics."

Duke, who now lives in Greenville, is a big fan of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Artemis program that is designed to return astronauts to the moon.

The last crewed lunar mission was Apollo 17 in December 1972.

"It's a big project and very ambitious, but I'm all for it," Duke said. "I think we will make it a success. I don't know the exact schedule. ... Hopefully, I'm still alive to experience that."