Russell Schweikart is a retired American astronaut who served as the Lunar Module (LM) pilot on Apollo 9, the mission during which the LM was tested for the first time in space.

 

Schweikart attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), earning a BS in aeronautical engineering and a MS in aeronautics and astronautics. Following graduation, he served as a pilot in the United States Air Force and Air National Guard (1956–1963). During part of this period he worked as a research scientist in the Experimental Astronomy Laboratory at MIT.

 

Schweickart joined NASA in October 1963 as one of 14 selected in the third group of astronauts. Later he moved to NASA Headquarters in Washington as director of user affairs in the Office of Applications, responsible for transferring NASA technology to the outside world. He then held several technology-related positions with the California state government, including assistant to the governor for science and technology and, in 1979, as chairman of the California Energy Commission. Schweickart currently is president of Aloha Networks, Inc.