1933-

American astronaut who orbited the Moon as command module pilot of Apollo 14. The successful flight of Apollo 14, in February 1971, restored public confidence in NASA after the aborted Apollo 13 mission. After his return from the Moon, Roosa filled the vital-but-thankless role of backup command module pilot for the last two lunar landing missions, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17. He also contributed to the early development of the space shuttle.