Russell L. Schweickart

Russell L. (Rusty) Schweickart, "a fomer Apollo astronaut, is a retired business and government executive and chairman of the board of the B612 Foundation. The organization, a non-profit private foundation, advocates the development of a space system to protect the Earth from future asteroid impacts by 2015. Rusty is also the founder and past president of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), the international professional society of 390 astronauts and cosmonauts, and currently chairs its committee on near-earth objects. Its 1988 book, The Home Planet, with a preface by Rusty, was an international best seller.

"Previously Rusty chaired the United States Antarctic Program Safety Review Panel for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and then served on its Outside Review Panel, advising on the future of U.S. facilities in Antarctica. He served as California Governor Jerry Brown's assistant for science and technology and chaired the state Energy Commission for three and a half years, setting in motion alternative energy development and efficiency regulations. Rusty joined NASA as one of 14 astronauts in October 1963 and served as lunar module pilot for Apollo 9, the third manned flight of the Apollo series and the first manned flight of the lunar module. He also served as backup commander for the first Skylab mission in 1973.Prior to joining NASA, Schweickart was a research scientist at the Experimental Astronomy Laboratory at MIT, where he received his BS and MS in pysics, and a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

"Among his many awards are NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale De La Vaux Medal, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Special Trustees Award (Emmy for transmitting the first live TV pictures from space), and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society and the International Academy of Astronautics, an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a trustee and fellow of the California Academy of Sciences."

• Network Member, Global Business Network
• Fellow (2008), Lindisfarne Association
• Advisory Council (1975), Planetary Citizens