back to article Jim McDivitt, NASA Apollo mission astronaut, dies at 93

Jim McDivitt, a US Air Force pilot and NASA veteran, best-known for flying in the pioneering Gemini and Apollo human spaceflight programs that led to the first manned Moon landing, has died at 93. McDivitt's career took flight during the Korean War, where he served as a fighter pilot, navigating F-80 and F-86 jets in 145 …

  1. Winkypop Silver badge

    A pioneer of space

    Another fine example of skill, intellect and bravery gone. The people of the 60s and 70s space program are all heroes to me.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: A pioneer of space

      I wonder if, in the the future, we'll be hearing stories of the people who actually designed, built and succeeded in the first reusable SpaceX rockets, and possibly Starship, when Musk is gone and no longer grabbing all the glory for himself? I'm sure there must be brilliant and dedicated people there doing great things but we never hear about.

  2. Bartholomew

    Sometimes we forget what these pioneers actually did

    Sitting on top of Titan II rocket (A Titan II GLV is basically the same as a LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile) in a metal box to get into space, you have to have respect for anyone who would do that. He was, as all astronauts are, literally sitting on top of a very carefully controlled explosion.

  3. Big_Boomer Silver badge
    Alien

    RIP Jim

    So long and thanks for Apollo. My commiserations to his friends and family.

  4. Joe W Silver badge
    Pint

    One of the really important missions (Apollo 9)

    Listen to "Thirteen Minutes to the Moon" (BBC Podcast). I just finished it (for the second time).

    I raise my glass to these pioneers, and today especially to Jim McDivitt.

  5. imanidiot Silver badge
    Pint

    Another big loss to the world. It's a shame it won't be long until we've lost all the early pioneers and all the knowledge they possessed.

    Rest in Peace Jim McDivitt

    1. Ian Johnston Silver badge

      There is a really good Discovery Channel series called "NASA's Greatest Missions" or "When We Left Earth" which is available as a 6 CD set and contains interviews with many of the astronauts and others involved in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. It came out in 2008, when a lot more were alive than are now. Jim McDivitt is in Episode 3.

      It's a co-production with NASA and has a tendency towards hagiography - the Columbia disaster was a triumph, for example, because of the willingness with which ordinary Americans helped look for bits of the orbiter and its occupants - but generally it's well worth a watch, and a tenner or less for the full set second hand on Amazon.

  6. Ian Johnston Silver badge

    Return of an old friend

    How nice to see the terms "Lunar Module" and "LM" return. I remember them being used at the time, but now it generally seems to be "Lunar Excursion Module" and "LEM".

  7. MonsieurTM

    May I correct the esteemed reporter regarding this quote' "... crew left the CSM to enter the LM, demonstrating that astronauts could move from one spacecraft to another for the first time ..."

    From NASA's own web site, Apollo 9 orbited in March, 3rd to 13th: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo-9

    But this link: http://russianspaceweb.com/soyuz4-soyuz5-eva.html claims: "On Jan. 16, 1969, Aleksei Yeliseev and Yevgeny Khrunov, wearing Yastreb spacesuits, conducted a 37-minute transfer from Soyuz-5 to Soyuz-4 on the exterior of the spacecraft."

    Which clearly contradicts the esteemed reporter....

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