Of the 24 Nasa astronauts who travelled to the Moon in the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, just five remain.
But he had already played another significant role in Nasa's exploration of the Moon. After Apollo 11 touched down in 1969, it was Duke - in mission control as the Capsule Communicator, or Capcom - who was waiting nervously on the other end of the line when Neil Armstrong said: "Houston, Tranquility Base here.
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