Astronaut Ken Mattingly served as command module pilot for Apollo 16 and spacecraft commander for space shuttle missions STS-4 and STS 51-C. [Courtesy: NASA]
Key Takeaways:
Former NASA astronaut Ken Mattingly II, celebrated for his crucial role in helping the Apollo 13 crew safely return to Earth after a crippling oxygen tank loss, has died at 87.
Though grounded from Apollo 13 due to rubella, Mattingly ran vital simulations on Earth that were instrumental in guiding the astronauts home.
He later served as command module pilot for Apollo 16 and commanded two Space Shuttle missions: STS-4 (Columbia) and STS-51C (Discovery).
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson lauded Mattingly as "key to the success of our Apollo program" and "one of our country’s heroes."
Former NASA astronaut Ken Mattingly II, best known for helping the crew of Apollo 13 return to Earth safely in 1970 after the loss of an oxygen tank in space doomed the lunar landing, has died at 87.
His cause of death on October 31 in Arlington, Virginia, was not released by NASA.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
