James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

, and a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. He served as

Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...

pilot for

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...

, the fourth human lunar landing. He was the 8th person to walk on the Moon and the first, and youngest, of those astronauts to die.

Early life and education

Irwin was born March 17, 1930, in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(maternal side) and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent, to parents James William Irwin (1896–1979), a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran, and Elsa Mathilda Irwin (; 1899–1993) who had German ancestry. Irwin's paternal grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from Altmore Parish at Pomeroy in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) around 1859. 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 (he ended up being the eighth). He graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1947. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in naval science from the United States Naval Academy in 1951, and Master of Science degrees in aeronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1957. He received initial flight training at

Hondo Air Base South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) northwest of the central business district of Hondo, a city in Medina County, Texas, United States. It is owned by the City of Hondo and ...

and follow-up training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas. He graduated from the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School (Class 60C) in 1961, and the Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1963 (Class IV). Prior to joining NASA, he was chief of the Advanced Requirements Branch at Headquarters

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was est ...

. During his time in the

he received the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal and two Air Force Commendation Medals. He also received an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award while with the 4750th Training Wing. Irwin was also a developmental test pilot for the Lockheed YF-12, the Mach 3 fighter-interceptor variant which preceded the

SR-71 Blackbird The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by the United States Air Force ...

. His first flight of that aircraft was on the day that one of his five children was born. In 1961, a student pilot that Irwin was training crashed the plane they were flying on a training mission. They both survived, but Irwin suffered compound fractures,

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

, and nearly lost a leg.Flight of the Falcon: The Thrilling Adventures of Colonel Jim Irwin John Forrest, a U.S. Air Force orthopedic surgeon, was instrumental in preventing the

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

of Irwin's leg. During his military service, he accumulated more than 7,015 hours flying time, of which 5,300 hours were in

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...

Personal life

Irwin was raised in a Christian household but stopped actively practicing the religion at age 10. He became a devout

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

after returning from space. 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.

NASA career

Irwin was one of the 19

s selected by NASA in April 1966. He was chosen as commander, with John S. Bull as lunar module pilot, for LTA-8, an environmental qualification test of the

Apollo Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...

in a vacuum chamber at the Houston Space Environment Simulation Laboratory. He then served as a member of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 10, the first mission to carry the full Apollo stack to the Moon and the dry run for the first crewed Moon landing. Following that assignment, Irwin served as backup lunar module pilot for the second Moon landing mission,

Apollo 12 Apollo 12 (November 14–24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, by NASA from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Commander Pete Conra ...

Apollo 15

Between July 26 and August 7, 1971 – as the Apollo 15 lunar module pilot (LMP) – Irwin logged 295 hours and 11 minutes in space. His extravehicular 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. Irwin and David 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. This extra training is credited with allowing them to make one of the most important discoveries of the Apollo era, the

Genesis Rock The Genesis Rock (sample 15415) is a sample of Moon rock retrieved by Apollo 15 astronauts James Irwin and David Scott in 1971 during the second lunar EVA, at Spur crater. With a mass of , it is currently stored at the Lunar Sample Laborato ...

. Apollo 15 landed in the Moon's Hadley-Apennine region, noted for its mountains and rilles. 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 the

Lunar Roving Vehicle The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is a battery-powered four-wheeled rover used on the Moon in the last three missions of the American Apollo program ( 15, 16, and 17) during 1971 and 1972. It is popularly called the Moon buggy, a play on the t ...

(LRV) carried along for this mission in the

lunar module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...

(LM) Falcon's Descent Stage. Scott and Irwin's stay on the Moon was just under three days at 66 hours and 54 minutes. Once the rendezvous procedure was completed between ''Falcon'' and the ''Endeavour'' CSM, 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. 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 with ''Endeavour'', and encountered the problems that delayed the lunar module jettison maneuver. The astronauts'

physiological Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

vital signs were being monitored back on Earth, and the

flight surgeon A flight surgeon is a military medical officer practicing in the clinical field of aviation medicine. Although the term "flight surgery" is considered improper by purists, it may occasionally be encountered. Flight surgeons are physicians ( MD ...

s noticed some irregularities in Irwin's heart rhythms. Irwin's heart had developed

bigeminy Bigeminy is a cardiac arrhythmia in which there is a single ectopic beat, or irregular heartbeat, following each regular heartbeat. Most often this is due to ectopic beats occurring so frequently that there is one after each sinus beat, or norm ...

. Charles Berry stated to Chris Kraft, deputy director of the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) at the time: "It's serious, he were on Earth. I'd have him in

ICU ICU commonly refers to: * Intensive care unit, a special department of a hospital ICU may also refer to: Organisations Universities * Information and Communications University, South Korea *Istanbul Commerce University, Istanbul, Turkey * Intern ...

being treated for a heart attack." However, Berry concluded that since ''Endeavours cabin atmosphere was 100% oxygen when in space, Irwin was in the best of circumstances. 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 zero ''g''. Whatever strain his heart is under, well, we can't do better than zero ''g''." During the post- trans-Earth injection (TEI) phase of the mission there wasn't much more for Irwin to do other than provide help with

Al Worden Alfred Merrill Worden (February 7, 1932 – March 18, 2020) was an American test pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut who was the command module pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. One of only 24 people to have flown to the ...

'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. The flight surgeons continued to monitor his EKG until splashdown, but his heart rhythm was normal. This incident was not discussed during the mission debriefing sessions, and the condition did not appear when he returned to Earth.

Post-NASA career

After the return of Apollo 15 to Earth, it was discovered that without authority the crew had taken 398 commemorative

first day covers A first day of issue cover or first day cover (FDC) is a postage stamp on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for useBennett, Russell and Watson, James; ''Philatelic Terms Illustrated'', Stan ...

to the Moon of which a hundred were then sold to a German stamp 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, 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. 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. By his own admission, Irwin was not a committed Christian during his years at NASA. After his retirement as a colonel in 1972, Irwin founded the High Flight Foundation. 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". He said that his experiences in space had made God more real to him than before. 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. Beginning in 1973, Irwin led several expeditions to Mount Ararat, Turkey, in search of the remains of Noah's Ark. In 1982, he was injured during the descent and had to be transported down the mountain on horseback. In ''More Than Earthlings'', Irwin wrote expressing his view that the

Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word ...

was real, literal history.

Death

Irwin suffered three major heart attacks. One occurred less than two years after Apollo 15, when Irwin was 43, while he was playing

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

; he underwent an emergency triple bypass 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. Doctors from NASA doubted the incidents were related to space travel, and noted that pre-flight testing indicated him having a tendency for

cardiac arrhythmias Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

during strenuous exercise. 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 was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He and his wife, Mary Ellen, to whom he was married for three decades, had five children. Of the 12 men who have walked on the Moon, Irwin was the first to die. The James Irwin Charter Schools were founded in Colorado in his honor. A patch cut by Irwin from a backpack abandoned on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission was auctioned at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

in 2001 for $310,500 in a consignment of material from Irwin's estate that garnered "a combined $500,000".

Organizations

Irwin was a member of the Air Force Association and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He was also a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, initiated in Tejon Lodge No. 104 in Colorado Springs. He was the third Freemason to set foot on the Moon, after Buzz Aldrin and

Edgar Mitchell Edgar Dean Mitchell (September 17, 1930 – February 4, 2016) was a United States Navy officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, ufologist, and NASA astronaut. As the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 14 in 1971 he spent nine hour ...

. Irwin was a member of Civitan International, a nonprofit organization promoting community service, scientific research, and service to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Awards and honors

* Command Pilot Astronaut Wings * Air Force Distinguished Service Medal *two Air Force Commendation Medals *

NASA Distinguished Service Medal The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both milita ...

* United Nations Peace Medal, 1971 *City of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Gold Medal, 1971 *City of Chicago Gold Medal, 1971 * Air Force Association's David C. Schilling Trophy, 1971 *

Robert J. Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association (NAA), presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to im ...

, 1971 *Haley Astronautics Award ( American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics), 1972 *

Arnold Air Society The Arnold Air Society (AAS) is a professional, honorary, service organization. AAS is open to officer candidates in Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) and at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), and is formally affiliated ...

's John F. Kennedy Trophy, 1972 Irwin's other awards include: Belgium's

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

in 1971; Kitty Hawk Memorial Award, 1971;

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

St. George Association's Golden Rule Award in 1972; Christian Service Award; Milan Hulbert Trophy of SWAP International in 1973. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Astronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1971; an

Honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Doctorate of Science from the William Jewell College in 1971; and an

D.Sc. from the

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

in 1972. He was inducted into the

International Space Hall of Fame The New Mexico Museum of Space History is a museum and planetarium complex in Alamogordo, New Mexico dedicated to artifacts and displays related to space flight and the Space Age. It includes the International Space Hall of Fame. The Museum of S ...

in 1983, and posthumously into the

U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located inside the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Heroes & Legends building on Merritt Island, Florida, honors American astronauts and features the world's largest collection of their personal memora ...

, on October 4, 1997. In 1973, When Irwin visited the city of

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

, Louisiana, to address a gathering at the First

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

, Mayor Tom Colten declared "James Irwin Day" and made Irwin an " honorary citizen of Minden."

In media

In the 1998

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

'' From the Earth to the Moon'' Irwin was played by Gareth Williams.

Bibliography

*''To Rule the Night: The Discovery Voyage of Astronaut Jim Irwin'' (with William A. Emerson, Jr., 1973) *'' More Than Earthlings'' (1983) *''More Than an Ark on Ararat: Spiritual Lessons Learned While Searching for Noah's Ark'' (with Monte Unger, 1985) *''Destination: Moon'' (1989) *''Flight Of The Falcon: The Thrilling Adventures Of Colonel Jim Irwin (1991)

References

External links

*
James Irwin
at Encyclopedia Astronautica
Institute of Creation Research biography of James IrwinHigh Flight FoundationANC Explorer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, James 1930 births American people of German descent 1991 deaths 1971 in spaceflight 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American engineers American aerospace engineers American test pilots American people of Scotch-Irish descent American Christians American Christian Young Earth creationists American people of Irish descent American people of Scottish descent Apollo 15 Apollo program astronauts Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Collier Trophy recipients Military personnel from Pittsburgh Mount Ararat People who have walked on the Moon Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal Spacewalkers United States Air Force astronauts United States Air Force officers United States Naval Academy alumni United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni