Edgar Mitchell, one of the few men to ever walk on the moon, passed away Thursday in South Florida.

Mitchell's daughter, Kimberly Mitchell, says he died Thursday night at a West Palm Beach hospice after a short illness.

Mitchell, a Navy pilot and engineer, started his NASA career in 1966. He was a backup pilot for the Lunar Module for Apollo 10 and served as the Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 14.

Mitchell landed on the moon on Feb. 5, 1971, and spent two days collecting samples and deploying science experiments with Alan Shepard.

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Mitchell retired from NASA in 1972 and had been living in South Florida since the 70s.

He later devoted his life to exploring the mind, physics and unexplained phenomena such as psychics and aliens.

Mitchell was 85.


Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 lunar module pilot stands by the deployed U.S. flag on the lunar surface during the early moments of the mission's first spacewalk. He was photographed by astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., mission commander. (NASA)

NASA administrator Charles Bolden released this statement Friday:

"On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell. As a member of the Apollo 14 crew, Edgar is one of only 12 men to walk on the moon and he helped to change how we view our place in the universe. 

“Edgar spoke poetically about seeing our home planet from the moon saying: ‘Suddenly, from behind the rim of the moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth … home.’

“He believed in exploration, having been drawn to NASA by President Kennedy’s call to send humans to the moon. He is one of the pioneers in space exploration on whose shoulders we now stand." 

Information the Associated Press was used in this report.