Here are some of the leaders, newsmakers, sports legends and entertainment greats who have died so far this year.
Mattingly circled the moon on Apollo 16, but is just as remembered for the flight he didn't take: He was scrubbed from Apollo 13 days before launch.ARLINGTON, Va. — Astronaut Thomas"Ken" Mattingly, who orbited the moon on NASA's Apollo 16 mission and narrowly missed the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, died Tuesday at age 87,“We lost one of our country’s heroes on Oct. 31.
His first space flight was set to be on Apollo 13, during which he would orbit the moon in the command module while the other two astronauts, James Lovell and Fred Haise, explored the lunar surface. He was scratched from flight status 72 hours before launch because of exposure to Rubella, avoiding the massive explosion that crippled the spacecraft as it neared the moon.
"He stayed behind and provided key real-time decisions to successfully bring home the wounded spacecraft and the crew of Apollo 13," Nelson said. Apollo 16 astronauts Thomas Mattingly, John Young and Charles Duke after leaving their spaceship in the Pacific Ocean on April 27, 1972.
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Astronaut Ken Mattingly, who flew to the moon on Apollo 16, has died at 87He piloted Apollo 16 and commanded the shuttle. But he may be best known for the mission he didn't fly: the ill-fated Apollo 13. And he worried late in life about the high cost of human space flight.
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Astronaut Ken Mattingly, who flew to the moon on Apollo 16, has died at 87He piloted Apollo 16 and commanded the shuttle. But he may be best known for the mission he didn't fly: the ill-fated Apollo 13. And he worried late in life about the high cost of human space flight.
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Astronaut Ken Mattingly, who launched to the moon on Apollo 16, dies at 87Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, an online publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.
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Ken Mattingly, Apollo 16 astronaut who orbited the moon, dies at 87Mattingly was also known for being removed from the ill-fated Apollo 13 crew 72 hours before its scheduled launch.
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NASA Administrator Remembers Apollo Astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly IIThe following is a statement from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on the passing of former NASA astronaut Rear Adm. (ret.) Thomas K. (TK) Mattingly II.
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NASA+ streaming service is launching on November 8thNASA is launching NASA+, an ad-free, and family-friendly streaming service, on November 8.
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