John Young, the only Nasa astronaut to walk on moon and pilot space shuttle, dead at 87

John Young, one of only 12 humans to walk on the moon and commander of Nasa’s first space shuttle mission, has died. He was 87.

He died Friday following complications from pneumonia, according to a statement from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The agency didn’t say where he died.

The longest-serving astronaut in the space programme, Young’s career began as a US Navy test pilot. He was the only moon walker to pilot a space shuttle, the first person to go into space six times and the only one to fly and command four types of spacecraft – Gemini, Apollo, lunar module and shuttle.

“Nasa and the world have lost a pioneer,” Robert Lightfoot, Nasa administrator, said in the statement. “Astronaut John Young’s storied career spanned three generations of space flight; we will stand on his shoulders as we look toward the next human frontier.”

Young’s achievements were paired with a laconic style and a heartbeat that barely jumped after lift-off. He was a stickler for safety, which benefited and exasperated Nasa officials.

“He was quite an asset to the space programme,” Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell said, according to an interview with the Orlando Sentinel when Young retired in 2004. “He was always questioning what we were doing and why we were doing it.”