Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut
Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II (born March 17, 1936) is an American former aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, rear admiral in the United States Navy and astronaut who flew on the Apollo 16, STS-4 and STS-51-C missions.
Mattingly had been scheduled to fly on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, but three days prior to launch, he was held back and replaced by Jack Swigert due to exposure to German measles (which Mattingly did not contract). Mattingly later flew as Command Module Pilot for Apollo 16 and made 64 lunar orbits, making him one of 24 people to have flown to the Moon. Mattingly and his commander from Apollo 16, John Young, are the only people to have flown to the Moon and also a Space Shuttle orbital mission (Fred Haise, his former training crewmate from Apollo 13, did atmospheric flight testing of the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests).
During Apollo 16's return flight to Earth, Mattingly performed an extravehicular activity (EVA) to retrieve film cassettes from the exterior of the spacecraft, the command and service module. It was the second "deep space" EVA in history, at great distance from any planetary body. As of 2022, it remains one of only three such EVAs which have taken place, all during the Apollo program's J-missions.
1936Mar, 17
Ken Mattingly
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Events on 1936
- 7Mar
Treaty of Versailles
Prelude to World War II: In violation of the Locarno Pact and the Treaty of Versailles, Germany reoccupies the Rhineland. - 29Mar
Remilitarization of the Rhineland
In Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal remilitarization and reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters. - 9May
Addis Ababa
Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5. - 26Jul
Spanish Civil War
The Axis powers decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War. - 7Sep
Benjamin the thylacine
The last thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial named Benjamin, dies alone in its cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.