Astronaut Charles Moss Duke Jr. will speak at the eighth annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast at the Show Me Center March 2.

Both the Cape Girardeau and Jackson mayors participate annually in the event, sponsored by the Christian Business Men's Committee of Cape Girardeau.

The breakfast will begin at 7 a.m. Tickets are $9.50, and all seats are reserved.

Duke piloted the lunar module of Apollo 16. The scientific expedition surveyed and collected more than 200 pounds of lunar rock and soil from the rugged highlands of the moon in April 1972.

Duke and his companion astronauts were on the moon longer than 71 hours. Duke has logged more than 265 hours in space.

In 1975, Duke retired from NASA to enter business in San Antonio. The retired Air Force brigadier general and his wife co-authored the book, "Moonwalker," and released two video tapes, "Moonwalker" and "Walk on the Moon."

Last year 1,400 people turned out to hear syndicated columnist Cal Thomas speak at the prayer breakfast.

"It has grown terrifically from the first few years we had it," Christian Business Men's Committee member Jack Mehner said.

"To me, when you get this number of people out to hear a person give a testimony about what God has meant to their life, I think it is a real testimony to our community."