James McDivitt

James McDivitt
McDivitt in 1971
Born	James Alton McDivitt Jr. (1929-06-10)June 10, 1929 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	October 13, 2022(2022-10-13) (aged 93) Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Education	Jackson College University of Michigan (BS)
Awards	Distinguished Flying Cross (4) Air Force Distinguished Service Medal (2) Air Medal (5) NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2) NASA Exceptional Service Medal
Space career
NASA astronaut
Rank	Brigadier General, USAF
Time in space	14d 2h 56m
Selection	NASA Group 2 (1962)
Missions	Gemini 4 Apollo 9
Mission insignia
Retirement	June 1972

James Alton McDivitt Jr. (June 10, 1929 – October 13, 2022) was an American test pilot, United States Air Force (USAF) pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut in the Gemini and Apollo programs. He joined the USAF in 1951 and flew 145 combat missions in the Korean War. In 1959, after graduating first in his class with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan through the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) program, he qualified as a test pilot at the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School (Class 59C) and Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class I), and joined the Manned Spacecraft Operations Branch. By September 1962, McDivitt had logged over 2,500 flight hours, of which more than 2,000 hours were in jet aircraft. This included flying as a chase pilot for Robert M. White's North American X-15 flight on July 17, 1962, in which White reached an altitude of 59.5 miles (95.8 km) and became the first X-15 pilot to be awarded Astronaut Wings.

In 1962, McDivitt was selected as an astronaut by NASA as part of Astronaut Group 2. He commanded the Gemini 4 mission, during which Ed White performed the first U.S. spacewalk, and later the Apollo 9 flight, which was the first crewed flight test of the Apollo Lunar Module and the complete set of Apollo flight hardware. He later became the manager of lunar landing operations and was the Apollo spacecraft program manager from 1969 to 1972. In June 1972 he left NASA and retired from the USAF with the rank of brigadier general.