United States: Astronaut John Young, Pioneer of Spacewalk, Died at 87
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| Commander John Young at a photo opportunity at the Houston Space Center, May 7, 1979. (NASA TV) |
John Young landed on the moon in 1972, during the Apollo 16 mission.
"NASA and the world have lost a pioneer." Astronaut John Young died at the age of 87, announces Nasa, Saturday, January 6th. With six spacewalks and a landing on the Moon, he has been an important man in the American space program. The octogenarian died Friday night complications of pneumonia. He lived in the suburbs of Houston (Texas-South) near the NASA Space Center.
John Young was the only astronaut to have participated in the Gemini-Apollo and Space Shuttle projects. He was also the first to make six spacewalks - and even seven, counting his takeoff from the moon - and for a while, he held the record for time spent in space, according to NASA.
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| John Young, NASA, Apollo program, History of spaceflight, Project Gemini |
He had walked on the Moon in 1972
Test pilot for the Navy, he made the fastest climb from the ground on a F-4 Phantom II jet, before joining NASA. John Young then participated in the Gemini 3 mission (1965), before ordering Gemini 10 (1966), flying in orbit around the Moon with Apollo 10 1969, and landing there with Apollo 16 in 1972. He also commanded the first mission of the American Space Shuttle in 1981.
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| John Young, NASA, Apollo program, History of spaceflight, Project Gemini |
An aeronautical engineer by training, he then joined Nasa's management - notably in charge of selecting (Astronauts) for the Space Shuttle. In his autobiography, he revealed that he felt responsible for the shuttle accidents Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003). When he retired in 2004, he said he was "very lucky" and enjoyed "every moment" of his career.
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