Ronald Ellwin Evans Jr. (November 10, 1933 – April 6, 1990) was an American electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, officer and aviator in the United States Navy, and NASA astronaut. As Command Module Pilot on Apollo 17 he was one of the 24 Apollo astronauts to fly to the Moon, and one of the 12 to do so without landing.
Before becoming an astronaut, Evans graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas and joined the U.S. Navy in 1956. After receiving his naval aviator wings, he served as a fighter pilot and flew combat missions during the Vietnam War. In 1964 he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Achieving the rank of captain, he retired from the Navy in 1976.
Evans was selected as an astronaut by NASA as part of NASA Astronaut Group 5 in 1966 and made his only spaceflight as command Module pilot aboard Apollo 17 in December 1972, the last crewed mission to the Moon, with Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt. During the flight, Evans and five mice orbited the Moon a record 75 times as his two crewmates descended to and explored the surface. He is the last person to orbit the Moon alone and, at 147 hours and 43 minutes, holds the record for the most time spent in lunar orbit. During Apollo 17's return flight to Earth, Evans performed an extravehicular activity (EVA) to retrieve film cassettes from the service module. It was the third "deep space" EVA, and is the spacewalk performed at the greatest distance from any planetary body. As of 2026, it remains one of only three deep space EVAs, all made during the Apollo program's J-missions. It was the final spacewalk of the Apollo program.
In 1975, Evans served as backup Command Module Pilot for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project mission. He worked on the development of the Space Shuttle before retiring from NASA in March 1977 to become a coal industry executive. Evans died from a heart attack in 1990, aged 56.
Ronald Ellwin Evans was born on November 10, 1933, in St. Francis, Kansas, the son of Clarence Ellwin "Jim" Evans and his wife Marie A. (née Priebe). He had two younger siblings, Larry Joe Evans and Jay Evans. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. He attended St. Francis Elementary School. His father served in the United States Navy during World War II. Evans started his secondary education at St. Francis High School, but only attended for two months before the family moved to Topeka, Kansas to seek medical treatment for his brother Larry, who was diagnosed with liver cancer. Larry died in 1951, and his parents separated. Evans attended Highland Park High School in Topeka, where he served on the Student Council, and was the president of the Science Club. He was a member of the school American football team, and was an All-Conference guard. His other brother, Dale, secured a football scholarship to Kansas State University where he played college football, and later played professionally for the Denver Broncos. Later Dale served two tours of duty in Vietnam with the United States Marine Corps.
Evans decided to study electrical engineering at the University of Kansas. His application was accepted, and he was offered a place starting in September 1951. His family had little money, so in order to pay for his college education he secured a scholarship from the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). During the fraternities' rush week he joined the Sigma Nu fraternity. He earned extra money selling Chesterfield cigarettes, and had a cigarette vending machine installed in the Sigma Nu fraternity house. NROTC training involved a parade for one hour each week, and during the summer break there were midshipman cruises on warships. The first was on the battleship USS Wisconsin. In his sophomore year there was an introduction to naval aviation at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas. This experience inspired Evans to become a naval aviator. The third year cruise was to Europe on the USS Gwin, a destroyer minelayer. In his junior year he was elected to the Sigma Tau, Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi engineering honor societies. During his final summer break he worked in a glass factory to gain general engineering experience. He graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in June 1956.
In a letter dated December 12, 1955, the Navy offered Evans a commission as an ensign and designated him a student aviator. He reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola in February 1956 for basic flight training in the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor, and made his first solo flight on May 21. He then progressed to the more powerful North American T-28 Trojan. His flight training then moved to Naval Outlying Landing Field Barin in Alabama, where student aviators practised landing on an aircraft carrier using an outline painted on the runway in the old North American T-6 Texan (known as the SNJ). Six actual landings were then made on the aircraft carrier USS Saipan. Evans returned to Topeka for Christmas leave. There he met Janet Merle (Jan) Pollom, who worked as a secretary at Forbes Air Force Base, and fell in love with her. On January 4, 1957, he reported to Naval Air Station Memphis, where he was taught instrument flying, culminating in a ground-controlled approach test. He then learned how to fly a jet aircraft, the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. In a ceremony on April 12 attended by Pollom, her mother, and Evans's mother, the chief of the Naval Air Technical Training Command, Rear Admiral Frank P. Akers handed out certificates to Evans's class designating them as naval aviators. Pollom pinned his aviator wings on his uniform.
Evans became a fighter pilot with Fighter Squadron 142 (VF-142), which was based at Naval Air Station Miramar in California, although it was still aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet when he arrived on July 14, 1957, and did not reach Miramar until July 25. The squadron was due to receive the new Vought F8U Crusader fighter, but these had not yet arrived, and in the meantime they flew the old North American FJ-3 Fury. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade), and married Pollom at the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Topeka on December 22, 1957. They had two children: a daughter, Jaime Dayle, and a son, Jon.
In January 1959, VF-142 boarded the brand new aircraft carrier USS Ranger, and set off on a cruise of the Western Pacific, which lasted until July 27, 1959. Afterwards, most of VF-142 was posted elsewhere, and Evans was one of the five pilots that remained. They took delivery of new model F8U Crusaders, and were joined by new pilots who had to be trained to fly them. The squadron was then assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, which departed for a tour of the Western Pacific on May 14, and returned to San Diego on December 15. During the voyage, Evans completed correspondence coursework for promotion to lieutenant, and was promoted to that rank in June. With the completion of back to back deployments, he became a flight instructor for the F8U Crusader with Fighter Squadron 124 (VF-124), but until it moved to Miramar in June, he had to fly the Grumman F9F Cougar, although he was able to fly the F8U Crusader once a week or so to stay familiar with it.
In 1962, Evans entered the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Fellow students there at the time included Robert H. Shumaker, Gene Cernan, Richard F. Gordon Jr., Paul J. Weitz and Jack Lousma. On June 5, 1963, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it would be recruiting a new group of astronauts. Military applications were due by July 15. They were pre-screened by the services, and those that the Navy regarded as qualified were contacted and invited to apply. Evans was on leave in Topeka, and received this notification in the form of a telegram. He submitted the required paperwork on July 6. Cernan, Evans, Gordon and Shumaker were among the 34 finalists that NASA invited to undergo a week of medical and physiological tests at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Six were eliminated at this point; the remaining 28, including Evans, were invited to come to Houston, Texas for interviews and testing. On October 14, Cernan and Evans were both called out of class to take long distance calls from NASA. For Cernan, it was a call from Deke Slayton, NASA's Director of Space Flight Operations, informing that he had been chosen; for Evans, it was one from Al Shepard, informing him that he had not. Evans returned to his studies. The Navy frowned on officers loafing while still drawing pay during the summer break, so the students had to take summer classes. Evans chose to take a course in Russian at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey. He graduated with a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1964.