Jim McDivitt commanded the important Apollo 9 mission which was crucial for NASA's ability to reach the moon. His family said he died in his sleep.
He was a member of the second class of astronauts.
He was known for his sense of humor. McDivitt said in an oral history interview that he waited for the right moment to tell his children that he was chosen to fly on the first US space mission.
McDivitt said that they were sitting at their breakfast table. I told the kids that I was going to tell them something important. You know that dad is anastrologer. I would like to let you know that I will be in space soon. My older boy, Mike, who was probably seven or eight years old at the time, said, 'Oh yeah, dad, I heard that at school.' Ann said, "Oh yes, dad, I heard that at school as well." Patrick told his dad there was a fly in the milk bottle.
When asked why NASA chose him to fly two important space flights, McDivitt's self-confidence was obvious.
McDivitt said that he was the best looking of the astronauts. It could have been personality.
McDivitt was the first ever NASA neophyte to command a mission when he was selected to lead the Gemini IV mission. White's historic spacewalk and the longest U.S. spaceflight at the time, 4 days, were considered the most ambitious flights at the time.
While White's spacewalk is remembered for its historic nature and how White appeared to be having such a wonderful experience that he didn't want to come back inside, McDivitt shared a little known story of how the spacewalk almost didn't happen because the hatch
The teeth on the handle had to engage some of the other gears. It was difficult to explain. The gears weren't going well. I exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, it's not opening!"
There was nothing they could do. I think they would have said no. We opened it and Ed went out and did something. I was anxious to have him get back inside because I wanted to close the hatch in the daylight. It was dark when he returned. The hatch wouldn't close when we closed it. It wouldn't open the door. In the dark, I was trying to get my glove down to push the gears, but I couldn't see anything. We got that done and latched it.
McDivitt and White were both in the Air Force and both went through the selection process for astronauts.
The importance of the Gemini missions is emphasized by McDivitt.
He said that flying Apollo would have been impossible if it weren't for the help of Gemini. If we didn't have the coordination of skills and the reliability,Apollo could've been a 30-flight program with a lot of accidents. It was crucial.
McDivitt commanded Apollo 9 in 1969 and it's sometimes overlooked as a mundane flight. The first flight of the complete set of Apollo hardware paved the way for NASA to successfully land humans on the moon in July 1969.
McDivitt was joined by two pilots for Apollo 9. The top priority for the crew was to conduct multiple dockings with the Command Modules in order to prepare them for future missions to the moon. The lunar module was flown away from the command module.
The mission was in danger at the beginning. During the first few days of the flight, NASA considered bringing the crew home early and canceling the rest of the mission.
We might not be able to make JFK's commitment for the US to land on the moon by the end of the decade if that is the case.
The great relationship between McDivitt and himself, where each of them knew instinctively that the spacewalk was going to work, is where the credit for the success of the spacewalk goes to.
To this day, I give Jim credit for having the courage to look at me, to trust me, and to make a decision that was critical of my decision.
The mission was viewed as a huge success. The Mission Control team was thanked by McDivitt before the end of Apollo 9. Might make you think that it might work. McDivitt said something funny.
McDivitt said that he and his crewmates were good friends.
McDivitt became manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office in Houston after he swapped the challenging job of flying the Apollo missions for the equally challenging job of supervision. He made the decision whether or not to continue missions after an emergency. McDivitt made the recommendation to leave earth after the lightning strike during Apollo 12's launch; he was involved in multiple decisions during Apollo 13 and made recommendations to continue Apollo 16.
The things I did on Apollo 9, which was an engineering test flight, came into play more for me as the Program Manager when we were running into problems. It made me more confident that the decision I was making was correct when I had to make decisions on those later Apollo missions.
McDivitt was awarded two NASA medals during his career. His service in the U.S. Air Force earned him a number of awards, including two Air Force distinguished service medals. The Sword of Loyola, the Arnold Air Society JFK trophy, and the U.S. Air Force Systems CommandAerospace Primus Award were all given to McDivitt.
The Apollo 8 crew is the final Apollo crew with all crew members still alive.
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