Alan Bean first started out as a Navy Test Pilot, he flew over 5500 hours, and flew 27 different aircrafts. Alan Bean became an astronaut in 1963. But wasn't picked for any missions for sometime. It wasn't until fellow astronaut, Charles Conrad (aka Pete), asked him if he wanted to take part on Apollo 12 after the death of C.C. Williams, whom Bean went on to replace. On Apollo 12, he was The Lunar Excursion Module pilot (LEM Pilot) and became the 4th man to walk on the moon in November of 1969. He flew again on Skylab 3, and was in space for 59 days in 1973. Alan retired from NASA in 1981. He is now an artist, painting his experiences on the moon. He released a book of his artwork in 1998, titled "Apollo: An Eyewitness Account by Astronaut/Explorer/Artist/Moonwalker Alan Bean".