1963 Chevrolet Corvette - The Astro Vette

The driving adventures of several of the members of the original seven became part of both Corvette and Astronaut lore. Shepard and Grissom especially engaged in a friendly rivalry, constantly hopping up their cars in an attempt to outdo the other man. Gordon Cooper even held SCCA and NASCAR licenses, and raced some on the latter circuit. The "perk" of owning a Corvette wasn't endorsed by just the lead-footed astronauts-the chance to own one of the world's premier performance cars was something many of the astronauts jumped at. Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean remembers those days well. "There were parking spaces in front of Building #3 (at the Johnson Space Center)," he recalls. "There were all these different color Corvettes lined up...it looked pretty fancy." It also made the local roads and highways a bit more interesting. "Anytime you saw one coming (a Corvette), it was another astronaut, and you'd look to see who it was."

Bean, another Navy captain and test pilot, joined the space program in October, 1963, one of the third group of astronauts. He served as the backup astronaut for Gemini 10 and Apollo 9 before finally heading into space as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 12, the second lunar landing, where he became the fourth man to walk on the moon (November 14-24, 1969). He later returned to space as Spacecraft Commander of Skylab Mission II (1973) before resigning from NASA in 1981. Bean liked cars, but not for the same reason as his heavy-footed astronaut brethren. "Although I'm an aeronautical engineer," he says, "I've always been attracted to the cars I thought looked the best. I didn't realize it then, but I'm an artist now, and it's part of my caring about how things look." (Most of Bean's paintings focus on a subject he knows as well or better than anyone-the moon. He even includes a small amount of moon dust in each painting.)

Though looks alone were enough reason for Bean to take advantage of the Corvette program, he wasn't immune to the car's power.

"I never drove it hard, but I liked the power," he remembers. He'll even admit to scaring himself a bit while taking his uncle for a "test ride" in the car. "The Stingray shape is a great shape," he enthuses. "They're much more lined than today, more beautiful."

Though it wasn't uncommon for astronauts to drive Corvettes, the Apollo 12 crew is the only group who decided to drive matching cars. The astronauts: Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., Richard Gordon Jr., and Bean, were a close-knit bunch who remained friends after their NASA days. (Conrad, who also remained a Corvette enthusiast, died in 1999.) "We liked the idea," Bean recalls. "It was a way to be a team and build esprit de corps. We all talked about it, and the first couple of ideas didn't work." The black "wings" that were finally agreed upon were added to three Riverside Gold '69 coupes after they left the factory-exactly who did the work is a bit of a mystery. The red, white, and blue logos were also added. Jim Rathman added the white line between black and gold. Otherwise, the cars were stock 427/390 four-speed coupes, sporting Head Restraints (RPO A82), 4-Season Air Conditioning (RPO C60), Special Wheel Covers (RPO PO2), and the AM/FM Pushbutton Radio (RPO U69).

"It was a big part of the program," Bean comments. "I thought it was manna from heaven. I wish I still had a deal like that." Unfortunately, though, all good things must come to an end, and so did that year's lease. Bean turned his Stingray in to Chevrolet, as did the other astronauts. This was, in fact, one of, if not the last, years for the astronaut lease program. Complaints from the public lead to the discontinuation of the program, and one of the most visible affiliations between man and machine ever seen ended.