Astronaut James A. McDivitt, shown here in his official 1971 portrait, died Oct. 13, 2022. McDivitt commanded Gemini IV, the second crewed Gemini flight, and Apollo 9, which tested the first lunar module in Earth orbit.
Born in Chicago in 1929, McDivitt joined the U.S. Air Force in 1951 and was selected to be an astronaut in 1962. As commander of Gemini IV in 1965, McDivitt stayed in the capsule while crewmate Ed White became the first American to walk in space. The 1969 flight of Apollo 9 was the first to test all the hardware needed to land astronauts on the Moon, including the lunar module. McDivitt was the Apollo program manager for the Apollo 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 missions. He left NASA in June 1972.
NASA biography of James A. McDivitt
Image Credit: NASA