John W. Young facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Young
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John Young in 2002
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| US Navy test pilot | |
| In office 1959–1962 |
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| NASA astronaut | |
| In office 1962–2004 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Watts Young
September 24, 1930 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 5, 2018 (aged 87) Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Georgia Institute of Technology, B.S. 1952 |
| Occupation | Naval Aviator, test pilot |
Captain John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 – January 5, 2018) was a retired American astronaut, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. He became the ninth person to walk on the Moon as Commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Young was on the first orbital Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, in April 1981. He was the only person to have piloted, and been commander of, four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo Command/Service Module, the Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle.
Young was born in San Francisco, California. He studied at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1956, Young married Barbara White. They divorced in 1972. They had two children. Young died of complications from pneumonia in Houston, Texas on January 5, 2018 at the age of 87.
