American astronaut Thomas Mattingly, Apollo 13 rescuer, has died

Fate had decided to entrust him with a mission other than the one he was assigned to. And he did it successfully. NASA astronaut Thomas Mattingly, who helped return the crew safely from the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission through his efforts from the ground control cell, died on Tuesday, November 2, at the age of 87, the US space agency announced.

While he was supposed to fly the command module for the Apollo 13 mission to the moon, Thomas Mattingly was grounded 72 hours before launch, after contracting rubella, NASA chief Bill Nelson said.

During the mission that took place in April 1970, a tank explosion destroyed the spacecraft when it was 320,000 kilometers from Earth. Then Thomas Mattingly, who ultimately did not get sick, went to mission control and put in place energy-saving procedures so the craft could reenter the atmosphere, thus saving the lives of astronauts James Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise. The module, which landed in the Pacific Ocean after orbiting the moon without landing.

Two missions captain

the film apollo 13, It was released in 1995, starring Gary Sinise as Mattingly, popularizing the quest of the same name.

Thomas Mattingly began his career as a naval aviation pilot before being selected to become an astronaut in 1966. At NASA, he was a command module pilot for the Apollo 16 mission and a mission commander for two spacecraft missions.

“Thomas’s contributions have advanced our learning far beyond space.”received Mr. Nelson.