Toni Dimaano Science 10.18.2022 04:Oct AM EDT

Apollo 9 Commander James McDivitt Passes at 93

James McDivitt, the man who led the first spacewalk missions with Apollo 9 to go to the moon, died on Thursday at the age of 93.

The former NASA astronaut passed away peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by his family and friends on October 13, NASA writes.

McDivitt Had Fruitful Life Dedicate To Space

ABC News writes that McDivitt did not want to become an astronaut initially, and, instead, wanted to fly in combat missions with the US Air Force as an aeronautical engineer.

However, McDivitt was selected to be a part of NASA's growing line of astronauts by September 1962 as part of its second class of astronauts, shortly after his US Air Force service.

This class called "The Next Nine" followed the "Original Seven," where McDivitt was joined by his classmates Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Ed White among others.

In June 1965, he was named the commander of the Gemini 4 mission, where he was joined by White on the program's most ambitious flight.

Before sending White on the first ever spacewalk, McDivitt attempted to achieve the world's first ever trip in an orbit, which, however, became unsuccessful, Space writes.

In this flight, McDivitt also reported to have seen something with the shape of a beer can in outer space, flying outside of the Gemini spaceship after taking pictures of space.

This exploration will then allow astronauts in the following years to explore and walk on the moon as the mission is twice as long as previous spaceflights like Mercury 9.

The Apollo Missions Were Part Of The McDivitt Legacy

After the success of Gemini 4, McDivitt was once again tasked to lead another space exploration for Apollo 1, but the spacecraft set on fire and claimed the lives of three astronauts.

On the second flight McDivitt embarked on, he led Apollo 9 as a commander, and played a critical role in the first moon landing, according to NASA.

The mission that launched on March 13, 1969 performed a series of flight tasks whose top priority was to rendezvous, dock, and configure the lunar module to support a spacewalk.

McDivitt's mission was to see if people can sustain life on the spacecraft while it docks in orbit, which became crucial to the Apollo 13 crisis a few years later.

However, the Apollo 9 capsule did not last in space and reentered the Earth on Day 10, crashing in the Atlantic Ocean, 341 miles north of Puerto Rico, Kilgore News Herald writes.

After Apollo 9, he was appointed lunar landing operations manager in the Apollo missions, and led a team that redesigned lunar exploration programs and spacecraft to do this task.

"After I flew Apollo 9 it was apparent to me that I wasn't going to be the first guy to land on the moon, which was important to me," McDivitt recalled, as to why he turned down being the first man on the moon.

Instead, McDivitt dedicated his life to guiding new astronauts through the Apollo 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 programs to their success.

ABC News says that McDivitt left NASA and the Air Force in 1972 to work in private industries, including a senior position at an aerospace firm called Rockwell International.

Through his long and meaningful life, McDivitt was awarded two NASA Distinguished Service Medals and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, according to the Kilgore News Herald.

The US Air Force also awarded him with twelve honor awards for his unwavering support and exemplary service to the army as an astronaut, and a Korean war veteran.