An Astronaut Meets God by James Irwin - Essay Example

Irwin received distinguished service and commendation medals during his time with the Air Force. James Irwin accumulated flight hours in the Air Force. Most of the flight hours were with the jet aircraft.

NASA later picks Irwin in the year 1966 because of his impressive record. Irwin was chief of advanced requirements at the air force headquarters before his appointment. The pilot had a chance to test the lunar model of a space vehicle. Irwin was appointed the crew commander for the vehicle and was a support crew for Apollo 10. The Apollo 10 mission was the first one to carry the full Apollo stack to the moon and made the first manned landing on the moon. Irwin was assigned the role of a backup astronaut for the Apollo 12 flight mission that finally reached the surface of the moon (Godwin, 36).

Irwin, together with David Scott and Al Worden finally had a flight of their own, Apollo 15. Apollo 15 was set on a mission in 1971. The mission was scientific intensive with an emphasis on geology and involved the new lunar rover. David Scott and Irwin performed various space tasks while on the moon. This mission was more science-intensive than the previous space mission. David Scott and Irwin received more geological training before the mission because of the complexity.

They performed several moon space walks while picking up space stones and the remnant of the moon's crust that included the discovery of genesis rock, which is more than 4 billion years rock. The rock is used to date in giving clues to the formation of the solar system. The Discovery of rock is one of the greatest discoveries of the Apollo era. Scott and Irwin worked for 23 hours without sleep during the period that they conducted the moonwalk for the final time (Godwin, 45).

Irwin started showing signs of a heart condition during this time. The physiological signs of the astronauts were monitored back on earth by the flight surgeons. Irwin's heart had irregular rhythms and developed a condition termed bigamy. The heart condition was a serious condition that needed intensive care. Irwin often got tired but after some minutes, his heart went back to normal. Irwin's condition was not discussed in the debriefing sessions after their return to earth, as the condition did not appear when they returned to earth. Irwin, however, had heart attack months later after their return.

The crew's return to Earth was successful. However, NASA discovered the collection of unauthorized stamps by the crewmembers that were to be exchanged for money from a private collector from Germany. The scandal, however, had the administration decide to reassign the crewmembers of Apollo 15 to non-flight roles. Read More