NASA photo provided
Astronaut Jack Schmitt, who has ties to West Battle Lake and who walked on the moon in 1972, used a geology hand tool to collect samples of rock from the lunar surface.

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

Former astronaut Harrison (Jack) Schmitt, a retired geologist and resident of New Mexico, oftentimes stayed at a family cabin at West Battle Lake during the summer months. Schmitt was 37 when he landed on the moon in December 1972.

Schmitt’s late father grew up in southern Minnesota and purchased property at West Battle Lake. The future astronaut was raised in New Mexico and the family has maintained the lake cabin over the years.

The Apollo 17 three-member crew, in 1972, included Schmitt, Eugene Cernan and command module pilot Ronald Evans. While Evans orbited the moon in the command module, Schmitt and Cernan descended to the moon in the lunar module. Schmitt’s Apollo 17 mission was the sixth and last U.S. successful trip to the moon,  

Six months later, Schmitt walked along the shores of West Battle Lake during summer evening hours and looked at the moon where he had walked, 238,855 miles away.

Schmitt’s cabin at West Battle Lake is near a cabin once owned by Jim Gray, the late newsroom editor of the Fergus Falls Daily Journal. Gray, who became a good friend of Schmitt, attended the December 1972 moon launch in Florida along with the late Chuck Underwood, publisher of the Daily Journal.

The former astronaut graciously spoke to students in Battle Lake and to other groups throughout Otter Tail County. Schmitt also enjoyed visits to Glendalough State Park, down the road from the family cabin on the north side of West Battle Lake.

Schmitt received a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from the California Institute of Technology in 1957, and later received a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard University. In 1970 he became the first of the scientist-astronauts to be assigned to space flight.

He served as a member of the U.S. Senate, representing New Mexico from 1977 to 1983. Schmitt then became a consultant in business, geology, space and public policy. He took pride following in the footsteps of astronaut Neil Armstrong.

On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was part of Apollo 11 and was the first man to set foot on the moon. He famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

NASA’s next moon landing, part of the Artemis III mission, is currently projected to take place in 2028.