James Irwin | |
|---|---|
 Irwin in 1971 | |
| Born | James Benson Irwin (1930-03-17)March 17, 1930 Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 1991(1991-08-08) (aged 61) |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Education | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Awards | NASA Distinguished Service Medal |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Colonel,USAF |
Time in space | 12d 7h 12m |
| Selection | NASA Group 5 (1966) |
TotalEVAs | 4 3 EVAs on the moon 1 EVA stand-up |
Total EVA time | 18h 35m |
| Missions | Apollo 15 |
Mission insignia |  |
| Retirement | July 31, 1972 |
James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an Americanastronaut,aeronautical engineer,test pilot, and aUnited States Air Forcepilot. He served asLunar Module pilot forApollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing. He was the8th person to walk on the Moon.[1][2]
Irwin was born March 17, 1930, inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania,[3] ofScottish,German (maternal side) andIrish descent, to parents James William Irwin (1896–1978), aU.S. ArmyWorld War I veteran, and Elsa Mathilda Irwin (née Strebel; 1898–1993) who had German ancestry. Irwin's paternal grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from Altmore Parish atPomeroy inCounty Tyrone, Ireland (nowNorthern Ireland) around 1859.[4]
In 1941, James Irwin lived at 6006 Grand Boulevard in New Port Richey FL and attended Pierce Elementary School (now the site of the New Port Richey Public Library and City Hall). While he was in the 6th grade, James was also enrolled in 7th grade classes at Gulf High School due to his advanced abilities. He is listed as a 7th grader in the 1942 Gulf High School yearbook. Throughout his life, James Irwin frequently returned to New Port Richey, where he was a member of and attended the First Baptist Church.https://www.visitnpr.com/post/the-astronaut-who-called-new-port-richey-home
At about the age of 12, he informed his mother about his desire to go to the Moon, letting her know that he might be the first person to do so[5] (he ended up being the eighth). He graduated fromEast High School inSalt Lake City,Utah in 1947. He received aBachelor of Science degree in naval science from theUnited States Naval Academy in 1951, andMaster of Science degrees inaeronautical engineering andinstrumentation engineering from theUniversity of Michigan in 1957.[6]
He received initial flight training atHondo Air Base and follow-up training atReese Air Force Base,Texas. He graduated from theAir Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School (Class 60C) in 1961, and theAerospace Research Pilot School in 1963 (Class IV). Prior to joiningNASA, he was chief of the Advanced Requirements Branch at HeadquartersAir Defense Command. During his time in theUnited States Air Force he received theAir Force Distinguished Service Medal and twoAir Force Commendation Medals. He also received anAir Force Outstanding Unit Award while with the4750th Training Wing.[6]
Irwin was also a developmental test pilot for theLockheedYF-12, the Mach 3 fighter-interceptor variant which preceded theSR-71 Blackbird. His first flight of that aircraft was on the day that one of his five children was born.[7]
In 1961, a student pilot that Irwin was training crashed the plane they were flying on a training mission. They both survived, but Irwin sufferedcompound fractures,amnesia, and nearly lost a leg.[8] John Forrest, a U.S. Air Forceorthopedic surgeon, was instrumental in preventing theamputation of Irwin's leg.[9]
During his military service, he accumulated more than 7,015 hours flying time, of which 5,300 hours were injet aircraft.[8]
Irwin was raised in a Christian household but stopped actively practicing the religion at age 10. He became a devoutborn-again Christian after returning from space. He was a Young Earth Creationist.
In 1952, Irwin married his first wife, who was a Catholic. The two had an unhappy marriage made worse by his devotion to his work. By his own account, the marriage failed after two years due to his poor, borderline cruel treatment of her, and he later stated that finding religion again made familial relationships much easier.
In 1959, Irwin married his second wife, the former Mary Ellen Monroe (born 1938). They were married until his death.
Irwin had five children.[10][11]
Irwin was one of the 19astronauts selected by NASA inApril 1966.[12] He was chosen as commander, withJohn S. Bull as lunar module pilot, for LTA-8, an environmental qualification test of theApollo Lunar Module in a vacuum chamber at the HoustonSpace Environment Simulation Laboratory.[13] He then served as a member of the astronaut support crew forApollo 10, the first mission to carry the full Apollo stack to the Moon and the dry run for the first crewedMoon landing. Following that assignment, Irwin served as backup lunar module pilot for the second Moon landing mission,Apollo 12.[14]
Between July 26 and August 7, 1971 – as the Apollo 15lunar module pilot (LMP) – Irwin logged 295 hours and 11 minutes in space. Hisextravehicular activity (EVA) on the Moon's surface amounted to 18 hours and 35 minutes of the mission time, an additional 33 minutes was used for Commander David R. Scott to do a stand-up EVA by opening the LM's docking hatch to survey the surroundings and take photographs.[15] Irwin andDavid Scott's mission was more science-based than previous missions, which meant that they received intensive geological training to meet the demanding nature of the J-Mission profile.[1] This extra training is credited with allowing them to make one of the most important discoveries of the Apollo era, theGenesis Rock.[15]
Apollo 15 landed in the Moon'sHadley-Apennine region, noted for its mountains andrilles.[1] As a J-Mission, they would spend more time on the Moon than previous missions, to allow for three EVAs. As well, Irwin was the first automobile passenger on the Moon as Scott drove theLunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) carried along for this mission in thelunar module (LM) Falcon's Descent Stage.[1] Scott and Irwin's stay on the Moon was just under three days at 66 hours and 54 minutes.[1]
Once therendezvous procedure was completed betweenFalcon and theEndeavourCSM, Irwin and Scott were busy moving items like rock samples into the CSM and preparing the lunar module for final separation. During this intense period of work the earliest symptoms of a heart condition appeared.[16] Both Scott and Irwin had been working with no sleep for 23 hours, during which they conducted a final moonwalk, performed the ascent from the lunar surface, rendezvoused withEndeavour, and encountered the problems that delayed the lunar module jettison maneuver.[17] The astronauts'physiologicalvital signs were being monitored back on Earth, and theflight surgeons noticed some irregularities in Irwin's heart rhythms.[17] Irwin's heart had developedbigeminy.[18] Charles Berry stated toChris Kraft, deputy director of theManned Spacecraft Center (MSC) at the time: "It's serious, [i]f he were on Earth. I'd have him inICU being treated for aheart attack."[18] However, Berry concluded that sinceEndeavour's cabin atmosphere was 100% oxygen when in space, Irwin was in the best of circumstances.[18] Specifically, "In truth, ... he's in an ICU. He's getting one hundred percent oxygen, he's being continuously monitored, and best of all, he's in zerog. Whatever strain his heart is under, well, we can't do better than zerog."[18]
During the post-trans-Earth injection (TEI) phase of the mission there wasn't much more for Irwin to do other than provide help withAl Worden's EVA to retrieve film magazines from the CSM's SIM bay, by donning a pressure suit and monitoring him. He was able to rest and apparently recover during the rest of the mission.[16] The flight surgeons continued to monitor his EKG until splashdown, but his heart rhythm was normal.[18] This incident was not discussed during the mission debriefing sessions, and the condition did not appear when he returned to Earth.[19]
After the return of Apollo 15 to Earth, it was discovered that without authority the crew had taken 398 commemorativefirst day covers to the Moon of which a hundred were then sold to aGermanstamp dealer. The profits of the sale were intended to be used to establish trust funds for the children of Apollo 15's crew. NASA had turned a blind eye to similar activities on earlier flights,[20] but on this occasion the administration reprimanded the astronauts, and they never received any funds from the sales. Irwin had announced his intent to retire from the Air Force and resign from NASA prior to the reprimand.[21] During a subsequent investigations by NASA, the Attorney General, and Congress, the astronauts surrendered the covers still in their possession; they were returned in 1983.Slate magazine opined that the action effectively exonerated the astronauts.[22][23]
I felt the power of God as I'd never felt it before.
By his own admission, Irwin was not a committed Christian during his years at NASA. After his retirement as acolonel in 1972, Irwin founded the High Flight Foundation.[2] He 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".[24] He said that his experiences in space had madeGod more real to him than before.[21] Irwin and his wife stated that his Christian rebirth, which happened while he was in space, saved their marriage and made their lives much happier.[25]
Beginning in 1973, Irwin led severalexpeditions toMount Ararat,Turkey, in search of the remains ofNoah's Ark.[2] In 1982, he was injured during the descent and had to be transported down the mountain on horseback.[26] InMore Than Earthlings, Irwin wrote expressing his view that theGenesis creation narrative was real, literal history.[27][28]
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Irwin suffered three majorheart attacks. One occurred less than two years after Apollo 15, when Irwin was 43, while he was playinghandball; he underwent an emergency triplebypass operation. Two months later he suffered a subsequent heart attack while skiing in Colorado. Irwin suffered another heart attack on June 6, 1986, when he collapsed during a run and was found pulseless on a curb.[29] Doctors from NASA doubted the incidents were related to space travel, and noted that pre-flight testing indicated him having a tendency forcardiac arrhythmias during strenuous exercise.[21]
On August 8, 1991, Irwin suffered another heart attack after a bicycle ride. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful, and Irwin died later that day. He is buried atArlington National Cemetery.[30] He and his wife, Mary Ellen, to whom he was married for three decades, had five children.[21]
Of the 12men who have walked on the Moon, Irwin was the first to die. TheJames Irwin Charter Schools were founded in Colorado in his honor.[31]
A patch cut by Irwin from a backpack abandoned on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission was auctioned atChristie's in 2001 for $310,500 in a consignment of material from Irwin's estate that garnered "a combined $500,000".[32]
Irwin was a member of theAir Force Association and theSociety of Experimental Test Pilots.[6] He was also aFreemason, initiated in Tejon Lodge No. 104 inColorado Springs.[33][34] He was the third Freemason to set foot on the Moon, afterBuzz Aldrin andEdgar Mitchell.
Irwin was a member ofCivitan International, a nonprofit organization promoting community service, scientific research, and service to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.[35]
Irwin's other awards include: Belgium'sOrder of Leopold in 1971; Kitty Hawk Memorial Award, 1971;New York Police Department St. George Association's Golden Rule Award in 1972; Christian Service Award; Milan Hulbert Trophy of SWAP International in 1973.[6]
He was also awarded anHonorary Doctorate of Astronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1971; anHonoraryDoctorate of Science from theWilliam Jewell College in 1971; and anHonoraryD.Sc. from theSamford University in 1972.[6]
He was inducted into theInternational Space Hall of Fame in 1983,[14][36] and posthumously into theU.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, on October 4, 1997.[37][38]
In 1973, When Irwin visited the city ofMinden,Louisiana, to address a gathering at the FirstBaptist Church,Mayor Tom Colten declared "James Irwin Day" and made Irwin an "honorary citizen of Minden."[39]
In the 1998HBOminiseriesFrom the Earth to the Moon Irwin was played byGareth Williams.[40]
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