Irwin, James B.

▪ American astronaut

in full  James Benson Irwin  

born March 17, 1930, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.

died Aug. 8, 1991, Glenwood Springs, Colo.

 American astronaut, pilot of the Lunar Module on the Apollo (Apollo program) 15 mission (July 26–Aug. 7, 1971), in which he and the mission commander, David R. Scott, spent almost three days on the Moon's surface investigating the Hadley-Apennine site, 462 miles (744 km) north of the lunar equator. The two spent 18 hours outside the Lunar Module, traveled on the Moon's surface in a specially designed vehicle, and collected many rocks and core samples. Alfred M. Worden piloted the Command Module, orbiting the Moon while the others worked below.

 Irwin graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., in 1951 and transferred to the Air Force. He earned a master's degree in aeronautical engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1957. At the time he was selected for the manned space program (1966), he was assigned to the Air Defense Command, Colorado Springs, Colo. The Apollo 15 flight was his only space mission.

      Irwin resigned from the Air Force and the space program in 1972 to form and become president of High Flight Foundation, a Christian evangelical organization.

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