Thomas Stafford at the Kennedy Space Center in 1969.Photo:Bettmann Archive/Getty

Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, commander of the Apollo 10 Lunar Orbit Mission, shown at Kennedy Space Center here 5/8/69.

Bettmann Archive/Getty

NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford has died at the age of 93.

The commander of 1969’s Apollo 10 died on Monday in Florida, according to the Stafford Air & Space Museum.

“It is with great sadness that the Stafford Air & Space Museum announces the passing of its namesake, Lt. General Thomas P. Stafford (USAF, ret.),” astatementon the museum’s website read. “General Stafford passed away on March 18, 2024 in Indian Harbor, Florida. General Stafford was 93.”

Per theAssociated Press, Stafford participated in four space missions — including three as commander — and flew on two Gemini flights before Apollo 10. He is also one of 24 NASA astronauts who have flown to the moon, though he didn’t land there.

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Thomas Stafford.AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Former U.S. astronaut Thomas Stafford, one of the participants of Apollo-Soyuz test project, the first international space mission, during a television interview before a reception at the U.S. Ambassador’s Spaso House residence in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, July 20, 2010.

AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

“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,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelsonwrote on X(formerly known as Twitter) on Monday. “Those of us privileged to know him are very sad but grateful we knew a giant.”

Stafford’s Apollo 10 mission took place from May 18-May 26, 1969 with late members John Young and Eugene Cernan.

“The most impressive sight, I think, that really changed your view of things is when you first see Earth,” Stafford said in a 1997 oral history, per AP.

(L-R) Eugene Cernan, John Young and Thomas Stafford.Bettmann Archive/Getty

The prime crew for the Apollo-10, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s fourth manned Apollo space flight. (L to R) are astronauts: Eugene A. Cernan, Command Module Pilot; John W. Young, Lunar Module Pilot; and Thomas P. Stafford, Commander.

He also shared daughters Dionne Kay and Karin Elaine with his first wife, the late Faye L. Shoemaker.

source: people.com