WASHINGTON — Legendary astronaut John Young, who walked on the moon and later commanded the first space shuttle flight, has died, according to a statement from NASA. PHILADELPHIA (CNN) — Former astronaut John Young, a NASA trailblazer whose six journeys into space included a walk on the moon and commanding the first space shuttle flight, died Friday after complications from pneumonia, NASA said Saturday. He retired in 2004 after 42 years of service with the agency, at the time holding the world record for most space flights (six), and going down in history as one of the most accomplished astronauts in the US space program. Astronaut John Young -- the first man to make six trips to space and the ninth to walk the moon -- died Friday night from complications from pneumonia. "Today, NASA and the world have lost a pioneer," Robert Lightfoot, NASA administrator, said in a statement. “Astronaut John Young’s storied career spanned three generations of spaceflight; 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 liftoff. Counting his takeoff from the moon in 1972 as commander of Apollo 16, Mr Young's blastoff tally stood at seven, for decades a world record. He flew twice during the two-man Gemini missions of the mid-1960s, twice to the moon during Nasa's Apollo programme, and twice more aboard the new space shuttle Columbia in the early 1980s. “He was quite an asset to the space program,” Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell said, according to an interview with the Orlando Sentinel when Young retired in 2004. Bush said Young was “more than a good friend; he was a fearless patriot whose courage and commitment to duty helped our nation push back the horizon of discovery at a critical time.”

“Barbara and I join our fellow Americans and many friends in the space community in mourning the loss of astronaut John Young,” Bush said in a statement.
Six-time U.S. NASA astronaut John Young dies at the age of 87. He was the 9th man who walked on the Moon.