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Young, John

American Astronaut 1930-

Born in San Francisco on September 24, 1930, John W. Young received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1952. Following graduation Young joined the U.S. Navy. After receiving flight training he was assigned to a fighter squadron. In 1959, after passing test pilot training, Young was assigned to the Naval Air Test Center and set time-to-climb records. He retired from the Navy in 1976.

In 1962 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected Young as an astronaut candidate. On March 23, 1965, he flew on Gemini 3 (the first piloted Gemini mission), and he was on Gemini 10 in 1966. In 1969 Young operated the command module of Apollo 10, and in 1972 he was in command of the Apollo 16 mission to Descartes.

Young served as the commander of the first space shuttle mission in April 1981. His final mission was aboard Columbia in 1983. Young's shared record for the most spaceflights, six, was broken in 2002 by Jerry Ross.

In 1973 Young became chief of the Space Shuttle Branch of the Astronaut Office. A year later he was chosen to be chief of the Astronaut Office. He is the associate director (technical) at Johnson Space Center in Houston.