James Alton McDivitt Jr. (June 10, 1929 – October 13, 2022) was an American test pilot, United States Air Force (USAF) pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut in the Gemini and Apollo programs. He joined the USAF in 1951 and flew 145 combat missions in the Korean War. In 1959, after graduating first in his class with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan through the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) program, he qualified as a test pilot at the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School (Class 59C) and Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class I), and joined the Manned Spacecraft Operations Branch. By September 1962, McDivitt had logged over 2,500 flight hours, of which more than 2,000 hours were in jet aircraft. This included flying as a chase pilot for Robert M. White's North American X-15 flight on July 17, 1962, in which White reached an altitude of 59.5 miles (95.8 km) and became the first X-15 pilot to be awarded Astronaut Wings. In 1962, McDivitt was selected as an astronaut by NASA as part of Astronaut Group 2. He commanded the Gemini 4 mission, during which Ed White performed the first U.S. spacewalk, and later the Apollo 9 flight, which was the first crewed flight test of the Apollo Lunar Module and the complete set of Apollo flight hardware. He later became the manager of lunar landing operations and was the Apollo spacecraft program manager from 1969 to 1972. In June 1972 he left NASA and retired from the USAF with the rank of brigadier general.
Early life James Alton McDivitt Jr. was born on June 10, 1929, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Margaret Mary (née Maxwell) and James Alton McDivitt Sr. He was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of Tenderfoot Scout, now the second rank in Scouting (although the first rank at the time). He grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan and graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1947. He then worked for a year to earn enough money to attend junior college. He completed two years at Jackson Junior College (now known as Jackson College) in Jackson, Michigan, from 1948 to 1950.
Military service
In January 1951, McDivitt joined the United States Air Force (USAF). The Korean War had commenced, and his deferment from the draft expired when he graduated from Jackson Junior College. Rather than wait and be drafted by the Army, he elected to enlist in the USAF as a private, and applied for pilot training under the aviation cadet training program. He performed well in training, and was the first in his class to make a solo flight. He received his pilot wings and regular commission as a second lieutenant in the USAF in May 1952 at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, and completed combat crew training in November 1952. He flew 145 combat missions in Korea in F-80 Shooting Stars and F-86 Sabres with the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, and earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses. His last mission was flown two hours after the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. McDivitt returned to the United States in September 1953 and served as pilot and assistant operations officer with the 19th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Dow Air Force Base, Maine. In November 1954, he entered advanced flying school at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, and in July 1955 went to McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, where he served as pilot, operations officer, and later as flight commander with the 332d Fighter Interceptor Squadron. In June 1957, he entered the University of Michigan under the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) program, and received his Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan, where he graduated first in his class in 1959. After graduation, he went to Edwards Air Force Base, California, as a student test pilot in June 1959. He remained there with the Air Force Flight Test Center as an experimental flight test pilot, completed the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School (Class 59C) and Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class I), and joined the Manned Spacecraft Operations Branch in July 1962. By September, McDivitt had logged over 2,500 flight hours, of which more than 2,000 hours was in jet aircraft. This included flying as a chase pilot for Robert M. White's North American X-15 flight on July 17, 1962, in which White reached an altitude of 59.5 miles (95.8 km) and became the first X-15 pilot to be awarded Astronaut Wings based on the USAF definition of space as starting at 50 miles (80 km). McDivitt was in line to fly the X-15 when White left, and to head the project office for testing the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II, but he heard that NASA was looking to select a second group of astronauts to augment the Mercury Seven, and, after some thought, he decided to apply.
NASA career
Project Gemini
McDivitt was selected as an astronaut by NASA in September 1962 as part of Astronaut Group 2. On July 29, 1964, it was announced that he had been chosen as command pilot of Gemini 4, becoming the first U.S. astronaut to command a crew on his first spaceflight. Only two other Gemini astronauts from this group commanded their first flights: Frank Borman (Gemini 7) and Neil Armstrong (Gemini 8). The Chief of the Astronaut Office, Mercury Seven astronaut Deke Slayton, selected Ed White as his pilot because the two men knew each other well, having attended the University of Michigan and test pilot school together. The mission objectives were ill-defined at first, but consideration was given to performing extravehicular activity (EVA), space rendezvous and orbital station-keeping. Knowing that EVA (sometimes called a "spacewalk") was a possibility, McDivitt pressed for it to be included in the mission. As a result, NASA management agreed to ensure that the Gemini space suit for the mission was capable of being used for EVA. Kenneth S. Kleinknecht told the July 1964 press conference that announced the mission that one of the crew might open the hatch and stick his head outside, but this attracted little attention. On March 18, 1965, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first man to perform an EVA, on the Voskhod 2 mission, but not until May 25 was EVA approved for Gemini 4 by NASA administrator James E. Webb.
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