Researching David Scott

Before becoming an astronaut, Scott graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and joined the Air Force. After serving as a fighter pilot in Europe, he graduated from the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School (Class 62C) and the Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class IV). Scott retired from the Air Force in 1975 with the rank of colonel, and more than 5,600 hours of logged flying time.

As an astronaut, Scott made his first flight into space as pilot of the Gemini 8 mission, along with Neil Armstrong, in March 1966, spending just under eleven hours in low Earth orbit. He would have been the second American astronaut to walk in space had Gemini 8 not made an emergency abort. Scott then spent ten days in orbit in March 1969 as Command Module Pilot of Apollo 9, a mission that extensively tested the Apollo spacecraft, along with Commander James McDivitt and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart.

After backing up Apollo 12, Scott made his third and final flight into space as commander of the Apollo 15 mission, the fourth crewed lunar landing and the first J mission. Scott and James Irwin remained on the Moon for three days. Following their return to Earth, Scott and his crewmates fell from favor with NASA after it was disclosed they had carried 400 unauthorized postal covers to the Moon. After serving as director of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California, Scott retired from the agency in 1977. Since then, he has worked on a number of space-related projects and served as consultant for several films about the space program, including Apollo 13.

Scott was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England and began work in a brickfield when ten years old. He served apprenticeship as an ironmoulder. He travelled to New South Wales in 1874 and settled in Newcastle and became a foreman ironmoulder with the Rodgers engineering works. He spent two years in California. He married Margaret Malone in about 1878 and they had issue three daughters and six sons.

Scott was elected as the member for Newcastle in 1891, but was defeated in 1894. In 1917 he married for the second time to Emma Roe, but they had no children. He died in the Newcastle suburb of Adamstown.

Scott’s most recent book is The Love That Made Mother Teresa (Sophia Institute Press, 2014). His previous books include: The Catholic Passion: Rediscovering the Power and Beauty of the Faith (Loyola Press, 2005)., Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Dorothy Day (Our Sunday Visitor, 2002), and Weapons of the Spirit: The Selected Writings of Father John Hugo (Our Sunday Visitor, 1997), co–written with Mike Aquilina.

Scott was born in Akron, Ohio in 1961. He holds a master's degree in religion and scripture from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is married to Sarah and the couple has five children.

From 1993 to 2000 he was editor of Our Sunday Visitor, the largest-circulation independent Catholic newspaper in the United States. Earlier, he had been assistant editor of The Evangelist, the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York. From 2002 to 2010, he served as editorial director of The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and managing editor of Center’s academic journal, Letter & Spirit. He is also a contributing editor to Godspy.com. Scott has earned much recognition for his journalistic and editing work, including several Catholic Press Association awards. One of Scott’s essays was included in The Best Catholic Writing 2005.

From 2010 to 2012 he served as editor in chief of Catholic News Agency and EWTN News.

Currently, Scott serves as Vice Chancellor for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, responsible for strategic direction of all external and internal communications for the country’s largest Catholic archdiocese.

David Victor Scott was born in Cambridge, England in 1947. He was educated at Solihull School, then studied Theology at Durham University and at Cuddesdon College. After ordination he spent two years as curate at Harlow, then was appointed chaplain at Haberdashers' Aske's School. In 1980 he became vicar of Torpenhow and Allhallows in Cumbria, and in 1991 moved to Winchester to become rector of St Lawrence with St Swithun-upon-Kingsgate. Canon Scott retired in September 2010 and now lives in Cumbria.

Canon Scott is an Honorary Canon of Winchester Cathedral and an honorary fellow of the University of Winchester. In 2008 the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred on David Scott a Lambeth Degree Doctorate of Letters (DLitt).