RIP: Astronaut James A. McDivitt

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Astronaut James A. McDivitt. (HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Back on October 13th we lost another Apollo astronaut. James McDivitt, age 93, passed away in his sleep.

Mr. McDivitt, a veteran fighter pilot from the Korean War, was a key part of the Gemini and Apollo missions. Part of NASA’s second class of astronauts, he was commander of the Gemini IV mission in June 1965, which conducted the first U.S. space walk, as well as the commander of Apollo 9, which set the stage for astronauts to land on the Moon.

As Andy Weir, author of The Martian, stated, “Astronauts are inherently insane. And really noble.” We should all remember the noble work of Mr. McDivitt and his peers in the early space program.

For more on Mr. McDivitt’s life, you can visit this NASA press release as well as this Washington Examiner obituary.