Jack Swigert

Jack Swigert
Swigert in 1971
Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 6th district
Died before taking office
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Daniel Schaefer (as member)
Personal details
Born	John Leonard Swigert Jr. (1931-08-30)August 30, 1931 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Died	December 27, 1982(1982-12-27) (aged 51) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Mount Olivet Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Colorado, Boulder (BS) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (MS) University of Hartford (MBA)
Awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom NASA Distinguished Service Medal
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Air Force
Years of service	1953–1956 (active) 1956–1965 (reserve)
Rank	Captain
Unit	Massachusetts Air National Guard (1957–1960) Connecticut Air National Guard (1960–1965)
Space career
NASA astronaut
Time in space	5d 22h 54m
Selection	NASA Group 5 (1966)
Missions	Apollo 13
Mission insignia
Retirement	August 1977

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 astronauts who flew to the Moon.^[1][2] Ironically, 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 before or since, 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 for Senate but lost in a primary election against Bill Armstrong. Later he ran for Congress, but while running was diagnosed with cancer. He won the election for Colorado's new 6th district in 1982, but died before being sworn in.