Book excerpt: The astronaut who landed on the moon in November 1969 and also lived and worked in Skylab in 1973 tells about his past and present life, which is devoted to painting scenes from the American experience in space. Landing on the Moon At last we were nearly there. We'd come a long, long way and in a matter of minutes, we would come to rest on the rocky, dusty surface of the Moon. And I knew that, in all of history, only two human beings—astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin—had walked on the Moon. Soon, Pete would become the third person to walk across this barren landscape. Then it would be my turn. It was a moment I had dreamed of, an achievement for which I had spent years working and training.