Jack Swigert (1931–1982)
Born 1931 CE, died 1982 CE.
John Leonard Swigert Jr. (August 30, 1931 – December 27, 1982) was an American NASA astronaut, test pilot, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, United States Air Force pilot, and politician. In April 1970, as command module pilot of Apollo 13, he became one of 24 Apollo astronauts who reached the Moon. Due to the "slingshot" route around the Moon they chose to safely return to Earth, the Apollo 13 astronauts flew farther away from Earth than any other astronauts until the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026, though they had to abort the Moon landing. Before joining NASA in 1966, Swigert was a civilian test pilot and fighter pilot in the Air National Guard. After leaving NASA, he ran to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate but lost in a primary election against Bill Armstrong. He subsequently was elected to represent Colorado's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, but died of cancer before being sworn into office.
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