NASA Astronaut John Young has died Jan 5, 2018

This original terrestrial passport, which was issued to NASA astronaut John Young during the time period of his training for and flight of the historic first mission of the Space Shuttle, is part of my personal collection of vintage space flight memorabilia.

Young was commander of the first flight of the Space Shuttle program, STS-1 (Columbia), which was launched 39 years ago from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 12, 1981.

Among other notable space accomplishments, Young was also the first to fly on a US Gemini space vehicle when, in 1965, he flew on the Gemini 3 mission along with fellow astronaut Gus Grissom. Young was also the first and only Space Shuttle astronaut who also walked on the moon. Young first orbited the moon aboard Apollo 10 in 1969 and then made a return trip in 1972, on Apollo 16, to land on the moon along with fellow crew member Charlie Duke. He was one of only 12 men to have walked on the surface of the moon.

The Space Shuttle fleet will be retired from use following the last and final flight of Atlantis, currently scheduled for launch in June 2011. The successor to the Space Shuttle, the Constellation program, was canceled in 2010. American manned access to space for the foreseeable future will now be at the hands of the Russian Federal Space Agency.

NASA Astronaut John Young has died Jan 5, 2018