| James Benson Irwin | |
|---|---|
| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Deceased |
| Born | March 17, 1930 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Died | August 8, 1991 (aged 61) Glenwood Springs Colorado |
| Other occupation | Test Pilot |
| Rank | Colonel, USAF |
| Time in space | 12d 07h 12m |
| Selection | 1966 NASA Group |
| Missions | Apollo 15 |
| Mission insignia | |
James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American astronaut and engineer. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing; he was the eighth person to walk on the Moon.[1]
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Irwin's grandparents emigrated to the USA from Altmore Parish at Pomeroy in County Tyrone, Ireland around 1859.[2] Irwin himself was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of Scottish and Irish descent.[3] Irwin 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 a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1957.
He received his flight training at Hondo Air Base and Reese Air Force Base, Texas. He graduated from the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School in 1961 and the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1963. Prior to joining NASA, he was chief of the Advanced Requirements Branch at Headquarters Air Defense Command. During his time in the Air Force he received an Air Force Distinguished Service Medal and two Air Force Commendations. He also received an Outstanding Unit Citation while with the 4750th Training Wing.
Ten years prior to his Apollo mission, his plane crashed on a routine training mission: a student pilot he was training crashed the plane they were flying. They both survived, but Irwin suffered compound fractures, amnesia, and nearly lost a leg.[4] Dr. John Forrest, a U.S. Air Force orthopedic surgeon, was instrumental in preventing the amputation of Irwin's leg.[4] He had been a developmental test pilot for the Lockheed YF-12. His first flight of that aircraft had been on the day that one of his five children was born.[5]
Irwin was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He also 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 was the dry run for the first manned moon landing. He then served as backup lunar module pilot for the second moon landing mission, Apollo 12.
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 Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) on the Moon's surface amounted to 18 hours and 30 minutes of the mission time (an additional 33 minutes was used to do a stand-up EVA by opening the LM's docking hatch to survey the surroundings and take photographs).[6] 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.[1] This extra training is credited with allowing them to make one of the most important discoveries of the Apollo era: the Genesis Rock.[6]
Apollo 15 landed in the Moon's Hadley-Apennine region, noted for its mountains and rilles.[1] Since this was a J-Mission, it meant that 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, since he was not the driver of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) carried along for this mission in the Lunar Module (LM) Falcon's Descent Stage.[1] Scott and Irwin's stay on the Moon was just under three days at 66 hours and 54 minutes.[1]
A patch cut by Irwin from the 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".[7]
Once the rendezvous procedure was completed between Falcon and the Endeavour CSM, both Irwin and Scott were busy moving items like rock samples into the CM and preparing the Lunar Module for final separation. It was during this intense period of work that the earliest symptoms appeared regarding his heart condition.[8]
Both Scott and Irwin were 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.[9] The astronauts' physiological vital signs were being monitored back on Earth, and the Flight Surgeons noticed some irregularities in Irwin's heart rhythms.[9] Irwin's heart had developed bigeminy.[10] Dr. 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."[10] Endeavour's cabin atmosphere was 100% oxygen (when in space), so it was decided that he was in no serious danger by Dr. Charles Berry.[10] 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."[10]
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'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.[8] The flight surgeons continued to monitor his EKG until splashdown, but his heart rhythm was normal.[10] This incident apparently was not discussed during the mission debriefing sessions, and the condition did not appear when he returned to Earth. A few months later he had a heart attack.[10]
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 Apollo 15 crew's children. Although their action was not in any way illegal, and despite the fact that NASA had turned a blind eye to similar activities on earlier flights, the administration decided to reassign the Apollo 15 crew to non-flight positions.
Beyond his achievements as an astronaut with NASA, Irwin is perhaps most notable for his Christian work. He left NASA and retired from the Air Force with the rank of colonel in 1972 and founded the High Flight Foundation, spending his last 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".[11] He frequently commented about how his experiences in space had made the presence of God even more real to him than before.
Beginning in 1973, Irwin led several expeditions to Mount Ararat, Turkey in search of the remains of Noah's Ark. His expeditions failed to find any sign of the Ark. In 1982, he was injured during the descent and had to be transported down the mountain on a horse and then to the nearest hospital by Lieutenant Orhan Baser and his commando team. Lieutenant Baser was assigned to protect and lead the team on this expedition.
Irwin suffered a serious heart attack near his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He died on August 8, 1991 as the result of a subsequent heart attack in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and was buried at Arlington.[12] He is survived by his widow, Mary Ellen, and their five children. Irwin was the first of the 12 men who have walked on the moon to die; the others to date being Apollo 14 Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr., who died of leukemia in 1998, and Apollo 12 Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr., who died in a motorcycle accident in California in 1999. The James Irwin Charter Schools were founded in Colorado in his honor.
In the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon Irwin was played by Gareth Williams.
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