Apollo astronaut Ken Mattingly who became famous for mission the failed Apollo 13 mission in 1970 over a German measles health scare, but later became a hero to its rescue on the ground, has died at the age of 87. Mattingly had been a US Navy pilot, test pilot, and engineer (later retiring at the rank of Rear Admiral). He joined the astronaut corps from the US Air Force Research Pilot school based at Edwards Air Force Base in California in 1965. Mattingly thought he had blown his astronaut interview when, in response to a question from NASA astronaut Michael Collins, he disparaged the combat potential of the F-104 Starfighter jet which he had test flown (it was famous for its fast speed, acceleration and climb but its small wings left it with an inability to turn well). Nevertheless, he was accepted into the NASA astronaut corps.
Ken Mattingly at the controls of the early format cockpit of the Space Shuttle Courtesy: NASA
Underside view of F-104 Starfighter. Courtesy: Twitter
After serving as CAPCOM (the main communicator at mission control) for part of Apollo 8, Mattingly was selected to fly on Apollo 13 with Jim Lovell and Fred Haise. However, with just three days to go, he was replaced on the mission by back up crewman Jack Swigert after Mattingly was exposed to German Measles. The resulting emergency caused by an oxygen tank explosion resulted in a need to power down the spacecraft for it to work long enough to reach home. And it was this difficult analytical process in which Mattingly eventually solved. His key role was made famous by Gary Sinise in the later movie Apollo 13 (1995). Mattingly, later got to ride into space as Command Module Pilot on Apollo 16 in 1972 with John Young and Charlie Duke. While he did not get a chance to walk on the Moon given his role, the mission did give him a spacewalk opportunity on he way home as he retrieved film a data packages. Ken Mattingly, later flew on two Space Shuttle missions, commanding both STS-4 in 1982, and STS-51C in 1985. In doing so he become one of the only two astronauts to have flown on Apollo and Space Shuttle missions (the other was his former Apollo 16 commander John Young).
Ken Mattingly spacewalk egress from Apollo Command Module. Courtesy: NASA
After leaving his NASA detail and the US Navy, Mattingly worked for the Grumman, General Dynamics and then Lockheed Martin, heading up its X-33 single stage launcher programme. This was eventually cancelled however and he finally worked at Systems Planning and Analysis before his final retirment. Mattingly was married and had one child. We at Seradata salute Ken Mattingly for all that he did and give our condolences to his family and friends.
