31 Facts About James Irwin

James Benson Irwin was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force pilot.

James Irwin served as Apollo Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing.

James Irwin was the eighth person to walk on the Moon and the first, and youngest, of those astronauts to die.

James Irwin graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1947.

James Irwin received a Bachelor of Science degree in naval science from the United States Naval Academy in 1951, and Master of Science degrees in aeronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1957.

James Irwin received initial flight training at Hondo Air Base and follow-on training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas.

James Irwin graduated from the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School in 1961, and the Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1963.

James Irwin received an Air Force Outstanding Unit Citation while with the 4750th Training Wing.

James Irwin was a developmental test pilot for the Lockheed YF-12, the Mach 3 fighter-interceptor variant which preceded the SR-71 Blackbird.

In 1961, a student pilot that James Irwin was training crashed the plane they were flying on a training mission.

James Irwin was raised in a Christian household but stopped actively practicing the religion at age 10.

James Irwin became a devout born-again Christian after returning from space.

In 1952, James Irwin married his first wife, who was a Catholic.

In 1959, James Irwin married his second wife, the former Mary Ellen Monroe.

James Irwin was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966.

James Irwin was chosen as commander, with John S Bull as lunar module pilot, for LTA-8, an environmental qualification test of the Apollo Lunar Module in a vacuum chamber at the Houston Space Environment Simulation Laboratory.

James Irwin then served as a member of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 10, the first mission to carry the full Apollo stack to the Moon and the dry run for the first crewed Moon landing.

Scott and James Irwin's stay on the Moon was just under three days at 66 hours and 54 minutes.

James Irwin was able to rest and apparently recover during the rest of the mission.

James Irwin had announced his intent to retire from the Air Force and resign from NASA prior to the reprimand.

James Irwin, describing his experience during the Apollo 15 lunar mission.

James Irwin spent the next 20 years as a "Goodwill Ambassador for the Prince of Peace", stating that "Jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon".

James Irwin said that his experiences in space had made God more real to him than before.

In More Than Earthlings, James Irwin wrote expressing his view that the Genesis creation narrative was real, literal history.

One occurred less than two years after Apollo 15, when James Irwin was 43, while he was playing handball; he underwent an emergency triple bypass operation.

James Irwin suffered another heart attack on June 6,1986, when he collapsed during a run and was found pulseless on a curb.

Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful, and James Irwin died later that day.

James Irwin was a member of the Air Force Association and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

James Irwin was a Freemason, initiated in Tejon Lodge No 104 in Colorado Springs.

James Irwin was a member of Civitan International, a nonprofit organization promoting community service, scientific research, and service to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

James Irwin was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983, and posthumously into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame, on October 4,1997.