Astronaut who tested lunar lander, later linked with Soviets in space, dies at 93

WASHINGTON — Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, who commanded the last Apollo test flight before the 1969 moon landing, died Monday at the age of 93.

Stafford was already a veteran astronaut when he and astronaut Gene Cernan guided a lunar module named Snoopy within 9 miles of the moon’s surface in May 1969 as part of the Apollo 10 mission.

John Young, the third astronaut on Apollo 10 crew, remained in the command ship, dubbed Charlie Brown.

Before his Apollo mission, Stafford had twice flown in Gemini missions, including the first in which two U.S. capsules rendezvoused in orbit.

He later took part in the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup in 1975.

“Godspeed, General Tom Stafford. Thank you for your contributions to NASA, and the world,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Monday via X, formerly known as Twitter. “Today General Tom Stafford went to the eternal heavens which he so courageously explored as a Gemini and Apollo astronaut as well as a peacemaker in Apollo Soyuz. Those of us privileged to know him are very sad but grateful we knew a giant.”

Stafford, a retired Air Force three-star general, died in a hospital near his Space Coast Florida home, according to the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma, which announced his death.

Only 24 astronauts, including Stafford, were involved with Apollo missions to the moon. Twelve, led by Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, actually set foot on the lunar surface. With Stafford’s death, only seven are still alive.

In 1975 the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to a joint docking mission in space. Stafford, then a one-star general, was chosen to command the U.S. team.

Being part of the Apollo-Soyuz mission meant intensive language training, being followed by the KGB while in the Soviet Union, and lifelong friendships with cosmonauts, The Associated Press said.

“We have capture,” Stafford radioed in Russian as the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft linked on July 17, 1975. His Russian counterpart, Alexei Leonov, responded in English: “Well done, Tom, it was a good show. I vote for you.”

Years later, Stafford said the Apollo-Soyuz mission was important because it showed the world that “two completely opposite political systems could work together.”

When his flying career ended, Stafford continued to work for NASA when it sought independent advice on everything from human Mars missions to safety issues to returning to flight after the 2003 space shuttle Columbia accident, AP reported.

He chaired an oversight group that looked into how to fix the then-flawed Hubble Space Telescope, earning a NASA public service award.

“Tom was involved in so many things that most people were not aware of, such as being known as the ‘Father of Stealth’,” Max Ary, director of the Stafford Air & Space Museum, said in an email to the AP.

He earned the nickname while he was in charge the famous “Area 51″ desert base -- the home of testing of Air Force stealth technologies as well as the site of many UFO theories.