WASHINGTON, October 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Former NASA Astronaut James A. McDivittwho commanded the Gemini IV and Apollo 9 missions, died October 13. McDivitt passed away peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family and friends at Tucson, Arizona. He was 93 years old.
McDivitt was born June 10, 1929in Chicago. He graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School, Kalamazoo, Michiganbefore earning a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michiganfirst in his class in 1959.
He joined the Air Force in 1951 and retired with the rank of Brig. General. He flew 145 combat missions during the Korean War in F-80 and F-86 aircraft. He was a graduate of the US Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School and the US Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot Course and served as an experimental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He has logged more than 5,000 flight hours during his pilot career.
McDivitt was selected as an astronaut by NASA in September 1962 as part of NASA’s second astronaut class.
He first flew in space as commander of the Gemini IV mission in June 1965. McDivitt was joined by another Air Force pilot Ed White on the program’s most ambitious flight to date. During Gemini IV, White would become the first American to venture outside of his spacecraft for what is officially known as extravehicular activity (EVA) or, as the world has learned, an spacewalk. In later years, it was a skill that enabled Apollo explorers to walk on the Moon and American astronauts and their partners around the world to build the International Space Station. The four-day mission duration nearly doubled the time NASA astronauts had spent in space up to that point, with America’s longest spaceflight previously by Gordon Cooper 34-hour Mercury 9 mission.
McDivitt’s second spaceflight as commander of Apollo 9 played a vital role in landing the first humans on the Moon. This was the first flight of the complete set of Apollo hardware and the first flight of the lunar module. The mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on March 3, 1969with the commander James Mc Divit, Command Module Pilot David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot Russell Schweickart. After launch, Apollo 9 entered Earth orbit and the crew performed a technical test of the first manned lunar module, nicknamed “Spider”, from start to finish. They simulated the maneuvers that would be performed during actual lunar missions. During the mission, the astronauts performed a series of flight tasks with the Command and Service Module and the Lunar Module. The absolute priority was the rendezvous and docking of the lunar module with the command and service module. The crew also configured the lunar module to support a spacewalk by McDivitt and Schweickart. On flight day 10, March 13, 1969the Apollo 9 capsule re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, less than three miles and within sight of the recovery ship, the USS Guadalcanal, about 341 miles north of Porto Rico.
McDivitt spent more than 14 days in space.
After Apollo 9, he became responsible for lunar landing operations and led a team that planned the lunar exploration program and redesigned the spacecraft to accomplish this task. In August 1969he became director of the Apollo Spacecraft program, guiding the program through Apollo 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16.
McDivitt retired from the US Air Force and left NASA in June 1972, to serve as Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs of Consumers Power Company. In March 1975he joined Pullman, Inc. as Executive Vice President and Director. In October 1975 he became president of the Pullman Standard division, railcar division, and later assumed additional responsibility for the leasing, engineering and construction areas of the company. In January 1981 he joined Rockwell International as senior vice president, government operations, and Rockwell International Corporation, washington d.c.
His many awards included two NASA Distinguished Service Medals and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. For his service in the United States Air Force, he also received two Air Force Distinguished Service Medals, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, five Air Medals, and United States Air Force Astronaut Wings. McDivitt also received the Chong Moo Medal from South Koreathe U.S. Air Force Systems Command Aerospace Primus Award, the Arnold Air Society JFK Trophy, the Sword of Loyola, and the Michigan Wolverine Frontiersman Award.
SOURCENASA
#Apollo #astronaut #James #McDivitt #dies