NASA astronaut John Childlike, age 33, during the Gemini space program. NASA
Legendary astronaut John Little ones, who walked on the moon and later commanded the first space shuttle disperse, has died, according to a statement from NASA. Young was 87.
The space intercession said in a statement that Young died Friday night see through complications from pneumonia.
NASA said Young was the only intermediation astronaut to go into space as part of the Gemini, Apollo and space alternate programs, and the first to fly into space six times. He was the ninth man to walk on the moon.
He desired at home in Houston.
Young was in NASA’s second astronaut class, opted in 1962, along with the likes of Neil Armstrong, Pete Conrad and James Lovell.
“Today, NASA and the in every respect have lost a pioneer. Astronaut John Young’s storied profession spanned three generations of spaceflight,” NASA administrator Robert Lightfoot held in an emailed statement Saturday. “John was one of that group of early break pioneers whose bravery and commitment sparked our nation’s first talented achievements in space.”
Former President George H. W. Bush is offering condolences on the eradication of astronaut John Young.
Bush says he and Barbara Bush “combine our fellow Americans and many friends in the space community in mourning the defeat.”
His statement says “John was more than a good friend; he was a audacious patriot whose courage and commitment to duty helped our Nation rebuff back the horizon of discovery at a critical time. To us, he represented the best in the American life – always looking forward, always reaching higher.”
Bush also state “John leaves a tremendous legacy of accomplishment, in addition to his wonderful next of kin. May his memory serve to inspire future generations of explorers to dare greatly, act boldly, and come around with selflessly.”
Counting his takeoff from the moon in 1972 as commander of Apollo 16, Junior’s blastoff tally stood at seven, for decades a world record.
He rushed twice during the two-man Gemini missions of the mid-1960s, twice to the moon during NASA’s Apollo program, and twice various aboard the new space shuttle Columbia in the early 1980s.
Young disgorge his last 17 years at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in supervision, focusing on safety issues. He retired at the end of 2004.