Young's Unparalleled Record Included Flights Aboard Gemini, Apollo and the Shuttle The consummate aviator, and despite all his accolades, a guy who still had a flair for fun, Astronaut John Young, has gone west. Young walked on the Moon during Apollo 16 and commanded the first space shuttle mission. He died Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, at the age of 87 from complications of pneumonia. Young began his impressive career at NASA in 1962, when he was selected from among hundreds of young pilots to join NASA's second astronaut class, known as the "New Nine." “Today, NASA and the world have lost a pioneer," acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot said in a statement. "Astronaut John Young's storied career spanned three generations of spaceflight; we will stand on his shoulders as we look toward the next human frontier..."
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