Charles Duke, the 10th and youngest person to walk on the moon, landed in Grahamstown last week.
Charles Duke, the 10th and youngest person to walk on the moon, landed in Grahamstown last week.
Duke made the trip to South Africa for hunting and was brought to Woodlands game farm, about 54km out of Grahamstown, on the Cradock Road, by Joe da Silva Cape Town Hunting Safaris.
Now aged 78, Duke was 36 when he walked on the moon in 1972, as an astronaut for Nasa. He is a retired US Air Force brigadier general.
Duke stayed at Woodlands from Monday 23 September to Thursday 26 September, leaving with a kudu trophy to add to his collection.
Duke lives in Teas with his wife Dorothy, who accompanied him on the visit to South Africa. This was Duke's fourth visit to this country and Duke was keen to tour Cape Town, which he hadn't yet seen.
There he met up with Da Silva, who recommended Woodlands as a great spot to hunt.
After his hunting trip, Duke planned to head off to Pretoria to visit friends before returning home. He said he'd been invited to the launch of The Winds of Havoc: A Memoir Of Adventure And Destruction In Deepest Africa which was written by his friend Adelino Serras Pires. Duke is mentioned in the book.
Duke said the Woodlands ranch was a beautiful place, adding that they had done some sightseeing during their stay.
While Grocott's Mail visited Duke at the game farm, Duke was autographing photographs for a get-together of Woodlands friends on Duke's request. He also spoke about his visit to the moon.
Apollo 16 (April 16–27, 1972) was launched from John F. Kennedy Space Center and was the fifth manned lunar landing mission. Duke was the lunar module pilot, John Young was commander, and Ken Mattingly was command module pilot.
Apollo 16 was the first scientific expedition to inspect, survey, and sample materials on their landing place called Descartes. Duke and Young made three excursions in different areas using a Lunorover, collecting rock and soil samples so as to “understand the moon”.
Duke said they collected samples for scientists from various universities across the world. While Duke said some rock samples had been destroyed during experimentation, there were still some “in safe-keeping”.
His scariest moment during the mission, Duke said, was during their Moon Olympics, which he and Young planned before leaving. While going for the lunar high jump record, Duke said he fell on his back. This could have proved very dangerous, because he was carrying all his oxygen on his back.
Before any further mishaps, the team packed up and returned to Earth.
Asked whether the moon landing had changed his life, Duke said “not really”, except he said while he had never been interviewed before landing on the moon, he still does plenty of interviews, as well as been a motivational speaker.
