James Irwin

Template:Short description Template:Other people Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox astronaut James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force pilot. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing. He was the eighth person to walk on the Moon.<ref name="tehabi">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=atevnha>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and education

Irwin was born March 17, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> of Scottish, German (maternal side) and Irish descent, to parents James William Irwin (1896–1978), a U.S. Army World War I veteran, and Elsa Mathilda Irwin (Template:Nee; 1898–1993) who had German ancestry. Irwin's paternal grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from Altmore Parish at Pomeroy in County Tyrone, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) around 1859.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1941, James Irwin lived at 6006 Grand Boulevard in New Port Richey FL and attended Pierce Elementary School (now the site of the New Port Richey Public Library and City Hall). While he was in the 6th grade, James was also enrolled in 7th grade classes at Gulf High School due to his advanced abilities. He is listed as a 7th grader in the 1942 Gulf High School yearbook. Throughout his life, James Irwin frequently returned to New Port Richey, where he was a member of and attended the First Baptist Church. The Astronaut Who Called New Port Richey Home

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<ref>Interview with Jim Irwin's parents after his selection to NASA (1966, published at YouTube on January 17, 2018)</ref> (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.<ref name="nasabio">Template:Cite web</ref>

He received initial flight training at Hondo Air Base 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. During his time in the United States Air Force 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.<ref name="nasabio" />

Irwin was also a developmental test pilot for the Lockheed YF-12, the Mach 3 fighter-interceptor variant which preceded the SR-71 Blackbird. His first flight of that aircraft was on the day that one of his five children was born.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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, and nearly lost a leg.<ref name="ReferenceA">Flight of the Falcon: The Thrilling Adventures of Colonel Jim Irwin</ref> John Forrest, a U.S. Air Force orthopedic surgeon, was instrumental in preventing the amputation of Irwin's leg.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During his military service, he accumulated more than 7,015 hours flying time, of which 5,300 hours were in jet aircraft.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

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 after returning from space. He was a Young Earth Creationist.

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

NASA career

File:James Irwin's EVA suit from Apollo 15.jpg

Irwin's Apollo 15 space suit

Irwin was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 in a vacuum chamber at the Houston Space Environment Simulation Laboratory.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="nmspacemuseum1" />

Apollo 15

Irwin and the Lunar Roving Vehicle during Apollo 15

Irwin salutes the United States flag on the Moon on August 1, 1971

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.<ref name="lunarjourn">Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="tehabi"/> This extra training is credited with allowing them to make one of the most important discoveries of the Apollo era, the Genesis Rock.<ref name="lunarjourn"/>

Apollo 15 landed in the Moon's Hadley-Apennine region, noted for its mountains and rilles.<ref name="tehabi"/> 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 (LRV) carried along for this mission in the lunar module (LM) Falcon's Descent Stage.<ref name="tehabi"/> Scott and Irwin's stay on the Moon was just under three days at 66 hours and 54 minutes.<ref name="tehabi"/>

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.<ref name="chaikin"/> 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.<ref name="journal">Template:Cite web</ref> The astronauts' physiological vital signs were being monitored back on Earth, and the flight surgeons noticed some irregularities in Irwin's heart rhythms.<ref name="journal"/> Irwin's heart had developed bigeminy.<ref name="kraft">Template:Cite book</ref> Charles Berry stated to Chris Kraft, deputy director of the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) at the time: "It's serious, [i]f he were on Earth. I'd have him in ICU being treated for a heart attack."<ref name="kraft"/> However, Berry concluded that since Endeavour's cabin atmosphere was 100% oxygen when in space, Irwin was in the best of circumstances.<ref name="kraft"/> 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."<ref name="kraft"/>

During the post-trans-Earth injection (TEI) phase of the mission there was not much more for Irwin to do other than provide help with Al Worden'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.<ref name="chaikin">Template:Cite book</ref> The flight surgeons continued to monitor his EKG until splashdown, but his heart rhythm was normal.<ref name="kraft"/> This incident was not discussed during the mission debriefing sessions, and the condition did not appear when he returned to Earth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Post-NASA career

Template:See also After the return of Apollo 15 to Earth, it was discovered that without authority the crew had taken 398 commemorative first day covers 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,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name="nytimesobit">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name=atevnha/> 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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He said that his experiences in space had made God more real to him than before.<ref name="nytimesobit" /> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Beginning in 1973, Irwin led several expeditions to Mount Ararat, Turkey, in search of the remains of Noah's Ark.<ref name=atevnha/> In 1982, he was injured during the descent and had to be transported down the mountain on horseback.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In More Than Earthlings, Irwin wrote expressing his view that the Genesis creation narrative was real, literal history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Death

Grave of Irwin at Arlington National Cemetery

Irwin suffered three major heart attacks. One occurred less than two years after Apollo 15, when Irwin was 43, while he was playing handball; 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 during strenuous exercise.<ref name="nytimesobit"/>

On August 8, 1991, twenty years and a day after his return from the Moon, Irwin suffered another heart attack after a bicycle ride. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful, and Irwin died later that day. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He and his wife, Mary Ellen, to whom he was married for three decades, had five children.<ref name="nytimesobit"/>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A patch cut by Irwin from a backpack abandoned on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission was auctioned at Christie's in 2001 for $310,500 in a consignment of material from Irwin's estate that garnered "a combined $500,000".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Organizations

Irwin was a member of the Air Force Association and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.<ref name="nasabio" /> He was also a Freemason, initiated in Tejon Lodge No. 104 in Colorado Springs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was the third Freemason to set foot on the Moon, after Buzz Aldrin and Edgar Mitchell.

Irwin was a member of Civitan International, a nonprofit organization promoting community service, scientific research, and service to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards and honors

• Command Pilot Astronaut Wings<ref name="nasabio" />
• Air Force Distinguished Service Medal<ref name="nasabio" />
• two Air Force Commendation Medals<ref name="nasabio" />
• NASA Distinguished Service Medal<ref name="nasabio" />
• United Nations Peace Medal, 1971<ref name="nasabio" />
• City of New York Gold Medal, 1971<ref name="nasabio" />
• City of Chicago Gold Medal, 1971<ref name="nasabio" />
• Air Force Association's David C. Schilling Trophy, 1971<ref name="nasabio" />
• Robert J. Collier Trophy, 1971<ref name="nasabio" />
• Haley Astronautics Award (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics), 1972<ref name="nasabio" />
• Arnold Air Society's John F. Kennedy Trophy, 1972<ref name="nasabio" />

Irwin's other awards include: Belgium's Order of Leopold in 1971; Kitty Hawk Memorial Award, 1971; New York Police Department St. George Association's Golden Rule Award in 1972; Christian Service Award; Milan Hulbert Trophy of SWAP International in 1973.<ref name="nasabio" />

He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Astronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1971; an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the William Jewell College in 1971; and an Honorary D.Sc. from the Samford University in 1972.<ref name="nasabio" />

He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983,<ref name="nmspacemuseum1"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and posthumously into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, on October 4, 1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1973, When Irwin visited the city of Minden, Louisiana, to address a gathering at the First Baptist Church, Mayor Tom Colten declared "James Irwin Day" and made Irwin an "honorary citizen of Minden."<ref>Pop McDonald, "Mayor Makes Col. James Irwin an 'Honorary Citizen of Minden,'" Minden Press-Herald, February 26, 1973, p. 1.</ref>

In media

The character of Spike Tiggler in the 1989 novel A History of the World in 10½ Chapters by Julian Barnes is based on Irwin.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon Irwin was played by Gareth Williams.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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)

See also

• List of spaceflight records

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• James Irwin at Encyclopedia Astronautica
• Institute of Creation Research biography of James Irwin
• Irwin at Encyclopedia of Science
• Arlington National Cemetery biography and photos Template:Webarchive
• High Flight Foundation
• ANC Explorer