legendary astronaut John Young, archived a number of milestones over the course of his 42 year career at NASA: a Navy pilot who served during the Korean War, he flew in space six time with some of the agency's biggest programs, was the ninth person to walk on the moon, and the first to pilot the Space Shuttle. NASA announced earlier today that Young died at the age of 87 due to complications from pneumonia.
Born on September 24th, 1930, Young attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned his degree in aeronautical engineering in 1952. From there, he joined the US Navy, served aboard the USS LAWS during the Korean War, and went on to attend the Navy Test Pilot School. In 1962, NASA selected him as part of Astronaut Group 2, the second batch of pilots that included Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Jim Lovell, James McDivitt, Elliot See, Thomas Strafford, and Ed White.
command four types of spacecraft — Gemini, Apollo, lunar module and shuttle.
twice on the Apollo lunar missions and twice on space shuttles in the 1980s.
The Apollo 16 mission in April 1972, his fourth space flight, took Young to the lunar surface.On Apollo 10, in May 1969, NASA performed what it called "a full dress rehearsal" for landing men on the moon two months later. Young remained in the command capsule as Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan descended in a lunar module to within 9 miles of the moon's surface. Returning to Earth, they set a record still not equaled by a manned vehicle, going 32 times the speed of sound, or 24,816 miles per hour.
Young's first time in space came in 1965 with the Gemini 3 mission that took him and astronaut Gus Grissom into Earth orbit in the first two-man U.S. space jaunt.
Young's achievements were paired with a laconic style and a heartbeat that barely jumped after liftoff. He was a stickler for safety, which benefited and exasperated NASA officials.