NASA astronaut Tom Stafford, famed for U.S.-Soviet orbital handshake, has died at 93

Tom Stafford commanded the first Apollo mission to dock with a Soviet craft in space. He also served as commander of Apollo 10 - the dress rehearsal before NASA's first landing on the moon in 1969.Retired space pioneers Tom Stafford of the U.S. and Alexey Leonov of Russia meet in Moscow in 2011 for the 50th anniversary of the first man in space, Russian Yuri Gagarin.Retired space pioneers Tom Stafford of the U.S.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter,"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. Those of us privileged to know him are very sad but grateful we knew a giant."

Stafford was born in Weatherford, Okla., in 1930 and later recalled,"As a little boy I wanted to fly airplanes and then later, be a fighter pilot. I wanted to go higher and faster. And was just the next logical step."in 1969, the second time NASA orbited the moon. That was the dress rehearsal before NASA's first landing on the moon two months later. Stafford, along with Gene Cernan, flew the lunar module to within nine miles of the surface before eventually returning to Earth.

In Stafford's final trip to space in 1975, he and two crewmates flew an Apollo spacecraft and rendezvoused with a Soviet Soyuz capsule. The event was marked with photos of Stafford and cosmonaut Alexey Leonov shaking hands where the two craft were joined.Astronaut Tom Stafford and cosmonaut Alexey Leonov shake hands after the first docking of U.S. and Soviet spacecraft in 1975.Astronaut Tom Stafford and cosmonaut Alexey Leonov shake hands after the first docking of U.S.

Throughout his life, Stafford said he was driven by the principles"study hard and work hard. ... Remember it's your attitude not your aptitude that will take you to the highest altitude in your life."

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