Stafford, Thomas Patten (1930-2024), a United States astronaut, flew on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project of 1975. This project was the first joint mission of U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts. Stafford commanded the Apollo capsule, whose crew also included U.S. astronauts Donald Slayton and Vance Brand. The Apollo capsule successfully linked up in space with the Soyuz capsule, commanded by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov.
Stafford was born on Sept. 17, 1930, in Weatherford, Oklahoma. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1952 and then went into the Air Force. In 1959, he graduated from the U.S. Air Force Experimental Flight Test School. He served as an Air Force test pilot, and coauthored two handbooks on flight testing.
In 1962, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) chose Stafford to be an astronaut. In addition to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, he flew on the Gemini 6, Gemini 9, and Apollo 10 space missions. He retired from NASA in 1975. In 1979, he retired from the Air Force with the rank of lieutenant general. He then entered private business. Stafford died on March 18, 2024.
See also Apollo ; Gemini; Space exploration (Mission to the moon).
