The Explorers' Club, № MCLXXVII

Destination Moon—Astronaut Group 5 (the "Original Nineteen"), Part VII
James Benson Irwin (17 March 1930-8 August 1991), Colonel, U.S. Air Force—He flew as Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 15 (Endeavour & Falcon, 1971), the eighth of the twelve Moonwalkers; he became a Christian after walking on the Moon & led expeditions to find Noah's Ark; he experienced a cardiac arrhythmia while in space & later survived three major heart attacks, but died due to a fourth.

Commentary: Irwin was the first of the twelve Moonwalkers to shuffle off this mortal coil, only sixty-one years old, twenty years plus one day after Apollo 15 splashed down. As of this publication, four of the twelve are still alive: Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 (1969, age ninety-six); Dave Scott, Apollo 15 (1971, age ninety-four); Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 (1972, age ninety), & Jack Schmitt, Apollo 17 (1972, age ninety-one). Scott is the only Commander still alive, the other three were Lunar Module Pilots.

Bonus! Moonshot Song o' the Day: The Original Nineteen—Jim Irwin
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "Only the Good Die Young" from A Saturday Tradition (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Jim Irwin
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXXXI: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 15, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXXXII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 15, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXXXIII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 15, Part III

Commentary: The picture above was commissioned by Apollo 15 C.M.P. Al Worden, to capture in paint his view of Jim Irwin silhouetted against the Moon during Worden's deep space E.V.A.

Requiescat in pace.