James Alfred McDivitt is an American former astronaut and United States Air Force pilot who flew in the Gemini and Apollo programs. He was born on June 10, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois.
McDivitt joined the Air Force in 1951 and served as a fighter pilot during the Korean War. He later attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and worked as a test pilot before being selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1962.
In 1965, McDivitt commanded the Gemini 4 mission, during which he and his co-pilot, Edward H. White II, conducted the first spacewalk by an American astronaut. In 1969, he served as the commander of the Apollo 9 mission, which tested the lunar module and other systems needed for the Apollo program’s lunar landing missions.
After leaving NASA in 1972, McDivitt worked in the private sector, including as the director of advanced programs for Chrysler Defense and as the vice president of Rockwell International’s space transportation systems division. He retired in 1992.