Astronaut Thomas Stafford, commander of Apollo 10, has died at age 93
Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday. He was 93.
Stafford, a retired Air Force three-star general, took part in four space missions. Before Apollo 10, he flew on two Gemini flights, including the first rendezvous of two U.S. capsules in orbit. He died in a hospital near his Space Coast Florida home, said Max Ary, director of the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
Stafford was one of 24 NASA astronauts who flew to the moon, but he did not land on it. Only seven of them are still alive.
Stafford was one of 24 NASA astronauts who flew to the moon, but he did not land on it. Only seven of them are still alive.
"Today General Tom Stafford went to the eternal heavens which he so courageously explored as a Gemini and Apollo astronaut as well as a peacemaker in Apollo Soyuz," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said via X, formerly known as Twitter. "Those of us privileged to know him are very sad but grateful we knew a giant."
After he put away his flight suit, Stafford was the go-to guy for NASA when it sought independent advice on everything from human Mars missions to safety issues to returning to flight after the 2003 space shuttle Columbia accident. He chaired an oversight group that looked into how to fix the then-flawed Hubble Space Telescope, earning a NASA public service award.
After he put away his flight suit, Stafford was the go-to guy for NASA when it sought independent advice on everything from human Mars missions to safety issues to returning to flight after the 2003 space shuttle Columbia accident. He chaired an oversight group that looked into how to fix the then-flawed Hubble Space Telescope, earning a NASA public service award.
This Aug. 23, 1965 photo provided by NASA shows astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, near the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever in the Gulf of Mexico during training. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday, March 18, 2024. He was 93. Credit: NASA via AP
Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, left, and U.S. astronaut Thomas Stafford, participants of the Apollo-Soyuz space flight, the first international space mission, speak to the media in Moscow, Russia, July 20, 2010. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday, March 18, 2024. He was 93. Credit: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file
In this March 22, 2016, file photo, retired NASA astronaut Tom Stafford, a native of Weatherford, Okla.,, who flew the first lunar module to the moon in 1969, stands in front of a portrait made in his honor in the Oklahoma House of Representatives lounge in Oklahoma City. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday, March 18, 2024. He was 93. Credit: AP Photo/Sean Murphy, File
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, center, Apollo 10 Commander Tom Stafford, left, and Al Siepert, deputy director of the Kennedy Space Center, stand together at Cape Kennedy after watching the lift-off of the Apollo 11 flight carrying the first men to the moon, July 16, 1969. Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday, March 18, 2024. He was 93. Credit: AP Photo/Pool, file