American astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly, who unwittingly became the savior of the ill-fated Apollo 13 space mission, has died. Thomas K. “TK” Mattingly died on October 31, as announced by the American space agency NASA on Thursday (local time) . Mattingly was assigned as command module pilot for the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, but had to cancel the flight 72 hours before launch due to illness, according to NASA representative Bill Nelson.
After an explosion occurred aboard the spacecraft traveling to the Moon without him, Mattingly developed an Earth energy-saving method that would allow the spacecraft to safely return to the atmosphere. In doing so, Mattingly likely saved the lives of his fellow astronauts James Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise.
The event was filmed in the 1995 film “Apollo 13”, in which Mattingly was played by American actor Gary Sinise. Mattingly began his career as a pilot in the U.S. Navy before joining the astronaut class in 1966. Mattingly’s contributions gave humanity much knowledge “beyond space,” Nelson said.