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Tom Stafford

Tom STAFFORD
PROFILE
Full Name:	Thomas Patten 'Tom' STAFFORD Jr.
Rank:	Lieutenant-General, USAF (Deceased).
Born:	17 September 1930, in Weatherford, Oklahoma, USA (American).
Died:	18 March 2024, in Satellite Beach, Florida, USA, aged 93.
Education:	1948: Graduated from Weatherford High School. 1952: BSc degree in Engineering (with Honours), from the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.
Career Highlights:	1948-52: Attended USN Academy; (1952) graduated with BSc degree; commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, US Air Force (USAF). 1952 - Sep 1953: Pilot training; (Sep 1953) received wings at James Connelly Air Force Base (AFB), Texas. Sep 1953 - Dec 1955: Completed advanced interceptor training; assigned to 54th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. Dec 1955 - Aug 1958: Transferred to the 496th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Hahn Air Base, West Germany; served as a pilot, flight leader and flight test maintenance officer, flying the F-86D Sabre aircraft. Aug 1958 - Apr 1959: Attended and graduated from the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School (TPS), Edwards AFB, California. Apr 1959 - Oct 1962: Remained with the TPS as an instructor and was later Chief of the Performance Branch of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) at Edwards, responsible for the supervision and administration of the flying curriculum for student test pilots. He was an instructor in flight test training and specialised academic subjects, establising basic textbooks and directing the writing of flight test manuals used by the staff and students.

NASA ASTRONAUT ASSIGNMENTS
1962:	(17 Sep) Named [on his 32nd birthday] as one of 9 pilot astronauts for NASA's Group 2 ("The Next Nine"); (Oct) reported to Manned Spaceflight Center (MSC), Houston, Texas; basic training.
1963:	(Jan) Technical assignment monitoring the design and development of communications and instrumentation systems.
1964:
1965:	(Mar) Back-up (BUp) Pilot, Gemini 3; (15-16 Dec) flew as Pilot, Gemini 6 (1 day 1 hr 51 min), first rendezvous in space between two crewed spacecraft (with Gemini 7)
1966:	(3-6 Jun) Flew as Command Pilot Gemini 9 (3 days 0 hrs 20 min) rendezvous with Agena target Docking Adapter; (Aug - Oct 1968) headed mission planning analysis and software development group, Apollo Branch Office, MSC.
1967:
1968:	(Oct) BUP Commander (CDR) Apollo 7.
1969:	(18-26 May) Flew as CDR Apollo 10 (8 days 0 hrs 3 min) second crewed Apollo lunar mission and first flight of Apollo Lunar Module (LM) in lunar orbit; flew to within 9 miles of lunar surface (with LM Pilot Gene Cernan); (Aug - May 1971) Assigned as Chief of the Astronaut Office while Alan Shepard trained for and flew Apollo 14.
1970:	Chief of the Astronaut Office.
1971:	Chief of the Astronaut Office; (Jun - Feb 1974) Assigned as Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations; represented NASA at the funeral of the Soyuz 11 cosmonauts, Moscow, USSR.
1972:	Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations.
1973:	Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations.
1974:	Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations; (Feb) began full-time training for Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) joint flight with the Soviet Union; ASTP mission training.
1975:	ASTP mission training; (15-24 Jul) flew as CDR Apollo 18 ASTP (9 days 1 hr 28 min) first docking mission with the Soviets (17 Jul) docked to Soyuz 19; (9 Aug) promoted to Major-General; (1 Nov) retired from NASA to resume USAF career.

POST-ASTRONAUT EXPERIENCE
4 Nov 1975 -	Commander, Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California.
1 May 1978:	Deputy Chief of Staff, Research, Development and Acquisition, Headquarters USAF, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.; (15 Mar) promoted to Lieutenant-General.
Nov 1979:	Retired from the USAF with the rank of Lieutenant-General.
1979:	Co-founded the technical consulting firm of Stafford, Burke and Hecker, Inc., in Alexandria, Virginia.
From 1979:	Board member for several corporations, including Gulfstream Aerospace; served as an advisor to a number of government agencies, including NASA and the Air Force Systems Command; defence advisor to US President Ronald Reagan during his presidential campaign and was a member of Reagan's transition team; served on several space-related councils, committees and task forces, including the 1993 Hubble Servicing Mission oversight committee, Shuttle-Mir and post-Columbia Shuttle Return-To-Flight boards.
18 Mar 2024:	Died from liver cancer in a care home at Satellite Beach Florida. He was 93.

Tom STAFFORD Space Flight Missions
Mission	Vehicle	Position	Dates DD/MM/YYYY	Duration DD:HH:MM:SS	Orbits	EVAs
Gemini 6	Titan II	Pilot	15/12/1965-16/12/1965	01:01:51:24	16	0
Gemini 9	Titan II	Command Pilot	03/06/1966-06/06/1966	03:00:20:50	47	0
Apollo 10	Saturn V	Commander	18/05/1969-16/05/1969	08:00:03:23	1.5*	0
Apollo 18 ASTP	Saturn 1B	Commander	15/07/1975-24/07/1975	09:01:28:24	148	0

Missions Flown:		4	Total Flight Time:	21:03:44:01	212.5	0

Space Explorer Achievements
First rendezvous in space between two crewed spacecraft (Gemini 6 and Gemini 7, Dec 1965) Commander, first US-international space docking mission (Apollo 18 ASTP, Jul 1975) Commander, last Apollo-class spacecraft (Apollo 18, Jul 1975)

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This profile is copyright Astro Info Service Limited, 2003, 2026.

The Gemini 6 crew during water egress training at Ellington AFB

The Gemini 6 crew of Pilot Tom Stafford (left) and Command Pilot Wally Schirra (right) are shown in a Gemini spacecraft with floatation collar attached, during water egress training at Ellington AFB, Texas. Image courtesy of NASA.

Stafford seated in the Gemini 6 spacecraft shortly before launch

Stafford (and Schirra) seated in the Gemini 6 spacecraft in the White Room of Pad 19 shortly before hatch closure on the day the mission finally launched. Image courtesy of NASA.

black and white image of the Gemini 9 crew taking breakfast on launch day

The Gemini 9 crew of Pilot Gene Cernan (left side nearest camera) and Stafford (right side) enjoy their breakfast on the morning of the launch. Also present is Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton (left side middle) and Charles Buckley of KSC Security. Image courtesy of NASA.

Orbital view of the Gemini 9 rendezvous target with its protective cover still attached

This image shows the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA) during rendezvous with Gemini 9 in Earth orbit. The failure of the protective cover to separate fully prevented Gemini 9 from docking with the ATDA and led to the crew describing it as looking like an "angry alligator". Image courtesy of NASA.

Group portrait of the Apollo 10 crew seated in their space suits during training at KSC, with a lunar backdrop

Gene Cernan was also in Stafford's crew for the Apollo 10 pre-landing dress rehearsal mission in 1969. (Left to right) Cernan (Lunar Module Pilot), Stafford (Commander) and John Young (Command Module Pilot. Image courtesy of NASA.

During Apollo 10, Stafford and Cernan descended in the Lunar Module to within 14.5 km (9 miles) of the lunar surface. Here, the LM is seen on its way back up to join the Command Module piloted by John Young. Image courtesy of NASA.

The American Apollo-Soyuz astronauts lying in their seats during a simulation exercise

Stafford's final flight was as Commander of the American crew for the historic Apollo-Soyuz joint flight with the Soviet Union in 1975. Here, the US crew of (l to r) Deke Slayton (Docking Module Pilot), Vance Brand (Command Module Pilot) and Stafford (Commander) are put through their paces during a simulation. Image courtesy of NASA.

Historic meeting between Stafford and cosmonaut Alexei LEonov in the hatchway between the Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft

In this image, Stafford (top) and Soviet Commander Alexei Leonov can be seen in the hatchway leading from the Apollo Docking Module to the Soyuz Orbital Module. Stafford became lasting friends with Leonov and attended his funeral in Russia in 2019.