We went to the moon as technicians and we came back as humanitarians. ~Edgar Mitchell

 

Most people know Edgar Mitchell best as an Apollo 14 astronaut and sixth person to walk on the moon. A US Navy Captain, MIT-trained aeronautics engineer, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the NASA distinguished service award, and 2005 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize among many other honors, Edgar Mitchell was a hero in the truest sense of the word.

What fewer people know is that Edgar’s spirit of exploration extended well beyond space travel to his lifelong dedication to increasing our scientific understanding of the nature of consciousness.

The sixth person to walk on the moon and the founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), Edgar Mitchell, left this world few days ago. Besides his exemplary space exploration contributions to humanity, I have immense respect and appreciation for his tireless work in enabling exploration and research in the nature of consciousness. I came across IONS over ten years ago during one of the significant stages of my quest to know the nature of reality and my place in it. Although I am less in contact with IONS these days but I feel that Edgar Mitchell’s passing is a significant event to be respectfully marked. Hence I would like to share with you his obituary posted by IONS:

In Memoriam: Edgar Mitchell, ScD, PhD

May his legacy be a guiding light for all of us.