James McDivitt commanded the first U.S. mission to conduct a spacewalk before leading the first test flight of the Apollo moon landers.
McDivitt's death was noted in a post to its social media channels.
"We mourn the recent passing of Korean War veteran, former test pilot, aeronautical engineer and NASA Astronaut Jim McDivitt," the statement read. "Peace be upon you"
McDivitt was part of the second group of astronauts. They were called "The Next Nine" because they followed the original seven. McDivitt and White had attended test pilot school together and were soon to be named as the crew of the space ship.
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The plan for the first American mission to perform an extravehicular activity didn't start with an outing.
There is a two-man prep for moon missions.
According to a 1999 NASA oral history, the flight was originally set up to be a medical experiment. There was a lot of medical experimentation on it because we had never had a flight longer than 34 hours. Then a few experiments. We didn't know if we were going to make it or not.
The idea was that White would open his hatch and stick his head out as McDivitt held him down. On March 18, 1965, the world's first spacewalker, Alexei Leonov, emerged from his Voskhod 2 spaceship and floated outside for 12 minutes and 9 seconds.
After trailing the Soviets in the space race, NASA decided to add a full Eva to the next flight. It was necessary to account for McDivitt's stature in making the changes.
I am out of a very tall sitting height. He said that they had to redesign the seats when the hatch had to be closed.
McDivitt and White flew on the second crewed flight of NASA's Gemini program on June 3, 1965. White was sent out on the first U.S. spacewalk, but McDivitt tried to get the world's first rendezvous in space.
A lack of depth perception made it difficult for McDivitt and White to establish how far away they were from their target. The fact that the stage wasn't staying still was considered a bigger issue.
The vent on it was left open so that the propellant could be pumped into it. The rocket moved away when we backed away from it. I had to reduce the alignment to get back to the rocket. As we entered the dark, it continued to move. It doesn't have any stabilization anymore, so it could be going this way or another way.
White thought they were between 850 and 1000 feet away from the stage, but McDivitt thought they were closer to 200 feet. McDivitt was forced to give up on the rendezvous in order to save propellant.
White's EVA (opens in new tab) was more of a success, despite running into problems getting White's hatch open at the start and then closing it at the end. McDivitt's photographs of White floating at the end of an umbilical, against the blue and white of Earth below, became instantly recognizable. There will be a series of spacewalks to follow on later missions.
"It probably wasn't until after the flight that we really began to appreciate the fact that working outside a spaceship was a lot different than working inside one," said McDivitt. It was a part of the experience that you had to go through to be able to do that. There was no experience going into Apollo.
Four days and one hour after they launched, McDivitt and White splashed down in the North Atlantic Ocean, despite a failed computer and a stuck thruster.
McDivitt's second command didn't go as expected. It was the order in which it was to fly that changed this time.
McDivitt was assigned to the second crewed flight of the Apollo program in the wake of the Apollo 1 fire. The Apollo lunar module would be tested by McDivitt and Scott.
There was an issue. NASA's primary contractor for the lunar module was experiencing delays.
McDivitt's crew would fly to the moon or move from Apollo 8 to Apollo 9 if they chose.
The director of flight crew operations told me that he wanted me to stick with my original mission and that it would now be called Apollo 9. He wasn't going to make me do something. Slayton wrote a book called "U.S. Manned Space From Mercury to the Shuttle". I think it was that we knew more about this module than anyone else. There was a reason to keep us where we were.
McDivitt said that people think he was offered the flight around the moon but turned it down. It's not quite. I think Deke would have allowed us to fly the Apollo 8 mission if I'd thrown myself on the floor. It wasn't really offered.
The command module "Gumdrop" and the lunar module "Spider" were used in the Apollo 9 mission. The equipment and skills that were needed to land on the moon were tested during the 10 day mission. They performed the first docking and extract of a lunar module, the second docking of two crewed spaceships, and a two person spacewalk.
McDivitt said in his NASA oral history that the main goal was to see if the lunar module worked. The rendezvous worked, the computers worked, the radar worked, and we didn't have a lot of problems with it. The whole thing went well.
He said that they had to make sure that it worked because it was a flimsy little craft.
McDivitt was the first to fly the lunar module in space and the first to move between the two spaceships. The crew splashed down on Gumdrop in the North Atlantic Ocean. Apollo 10 will conduct a full-up dress rehearsal for the first moon landing later that year after NASA declared the flight a success.
McDivitt flew into space in Apollo 9. He spent a total of 14 days, 2 hours and 56 minutes off the planet and completed 217 laps of Earth.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 10, 1929, but grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and was educated in the state. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1959 after completing two years at Jackson College.
McDivitt enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1951, a year after the Korean War ended. He was a pilot with the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in Korea.
After returning to the U.S. in 1953, McDivitt continued to serve as a pilot with the 332d Fighter Interceptor squadron, as well as with the 19th Fighter Interceptor squadron.
McDivitt became a test pilot after graduating from the University of Michigan. After completing the Experimental Flight Test Pilot School, he joined the Manned Spacecraft Operations Branch.
McDivitt was the chase pilot for Robert White's X-15 rocket plane flight which reached an altitude of 98.6 miles. The first X-15 pilot to be awarded anastronomy wings based on the Air Force definition of space was White.
McDivitt might have flown the X-15, but instead applied for NASA's astronauts corps.
McDivitt was assigned to work on the guidance and navigation systems for the space agency. He became the Engineering Lead for the Apollo program after working as a capcom in mission control.
McDivitt was the backup commander for the doomed AS- 204 mission. McDivitt moved into management after landing.
It was clear to him that he wasn't going to be the first person to land on the moon. Being the second or third guy wasn't something I cared about.
McDivitt turned down other opportunities to head up the Air Force's MOL program, instead becoming the manager of lunar landing operations and then the manager of the Apollo program.
When Apollo 12 was launched, it was struck by lightning twice. I had to make a decision about sending it to the moon. McDivitt said that he did. It was the best spaceflight anyone has ever flown. That worked out well. We had solder balls flying around and we shut off signals to the engine. We had a big problem in 15. I have no recollection of what that was. We had a piece of equipment. We were able to proceed with all of them.
Gene Cernan had been assigned to command Apollo 17 and McDivitt decided to resign. McDivitt was concerned about the recent crash of a helicopter. McDivitt left once the Apollo 16 mission ended.
In 1972 McDivitt left NASA to take the position of executive vice president for corporate affairs at Consumers Power Company, a utility company in Michigan. He was an executive vice president and a director of Pullman, Inc. He became president of the standard division seven months later.
McDivitt was senior vice president for Government Operations and International at Boeing when he retired in 1995.
McDivitt was a member of two organizations. He was a member of the Order at the Third World Congress for the Lay Apostolate at the Vatican.
McDivitt appeared in a "Brady Bunch" episode as himself. "From the Earth to the Moon" was a dramatization of him by O' Farrell.
Don Shepperd edited and published a chapter on career limiting capers by McDivitt.
McDivitt received several distinctions for his service to the Air Force and space program. He received the Iven C. Kincheloe Award in 1969. McDivitt chose the University of Michigan College of Engineering to display the moon rock embedded trophy he received from NASA.
McDivitt was a member of the International Space Hall of Fame, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and the International Air and Space Hall of Fame. He received degrees from the University of Michigan, Miami University, and Eastern Michigan University in the 1970s.
An elementary school in Old Bridge, New Jersey is named after McDivitt. There is a plaza at the University of Michigan.
McDivitt was married for the second time in 1985 to Judith Ann Odell with whom he had two stepchildren.
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