Colonel James B. Irwin: Biography and Exclusive Interview with the Late Astronaut
Someone might think that a man who was an astronaut, who traveled to the moon, might for the rest of his life find anything else to be dull, boring, or mundane-but that was not the case for the late Colonel James B. Irwin, who died August 8, 1991, after a heart attack, at the age of 61 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Irwin, who was born March 17, 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told this author a few years ago in an interview never before published that after his trip to the moon he believed his most important mission in life was serving God and sharing his faith in Jesus Christ.
Colonel James Irwin and Scott became the first people to use a motor vehicle on the moon, the Rover, an $8 million dune buggy that weighed only 76 pounds when used (455 on earth), traveled at a maximum of 10 miles-per-hour, and could carry 2 Ã?½ times its weight. They also discovered the Genesis Rock, an important archeological discovery that helped scientists estimate the age of the moon. Irwin also became the first person to quote from the Bible while on the moon, Psalm 121:1: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
“The earth was very small,” Irwin recalled the view from the moon. “(It was) the size of a marble. I thought it the earth is that small, how small am I? Just a speck in the universe, but yet significant enough that God would love me and create me and love me enough to touch my lifeâÂ?¦.I felt privileged like an angel to get God’s view of the earth.”
Colonel James Irwin and his crew became popular after their trip into space. They participated in parades and spoke before large crowds in New York City and Chicago, and in Salt Lake City and Brigham Young University. Irwin, however, increasingly desired to share his faith, not just talk about his trip to the moon.
Irwin, who had embraced the Christian faith as an 11 year old boy at a church and came to believe Jesus Christ was God’s Son who had died and rose to pay for his sins, had never before shared his faith so publicly. Even before he retired from the space program, Irwin traveled as an astronaut, during his spare time, to share his Christian message.
He began to receive many invitations and spoke before 50,000 Southern Baptists in the Houston Astrodome, before cadets at Moody Air Force Base in Korea, and in Taipei, Taiwan. Many came to embrace his faith-50 at the air force base and 100 in Taiwan.
The astronaut was as eager to speak with an unknown person, after a church service, as a head of state, like King Hussein of Jordon, Golda Meir of Israel, former President Thieu of South Vietnam, or before the large crowds.
Colonel James Irwin, the astronaut, came to believe, at the advice of others, including Dr. Billy Graham that a lot of people would want to hear his message. They would want to talk with a man who had once walked on the moon. He founded and became president of High Flight, a non-profit organization in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that exists to share the gospel.
“I was a little reluctant to form another organization (to share the gospel), because I knew there were many in existence to do essentially the same thing. Many people gave me advice, like Dr. Billy Graham, said the message was basically the same, but a little different approach, and he suggested forming an organization.
“We formed High Flight,” James Irwin explained. “I had a high flight, and we’re interested in everyone having a higher flight in life-the ultimate flight when life ends.
Astronauts Al Worden, William Pogue, and Charles Duke also spoke for High Flight to share the Christian message. They spoke at conventions, civic groups, schools, before various military groups, and at many other places in America. Colonel Irwin also spoke in the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Korea, and Vietnam.
“We go wherever we’re requested, anywhere on the earth,” Irwin explained. “We speak to whoever’s willing to listen. Most times they’re interested in our group because of our involvement in the space program. We feel obligated to say something about space, but if at all possible we always bring in the spiritual message.”
Colonel James Irwin, the former astronaut, was always eager to share slides of Apollo 15’s mission, give autographed pictures of him on the moon, explain the space program and his involvement and answer questions. When someone asked Irwin what he was doing after the Apollo 15, he was always eager to give his personal testimony. People who would never enter a church heard him speak.
Public speaking was a challenge for Irwin, who had only spoken in a church twice publicly before Apollo 15.
“It (public speaking) still remains a challenge,” he explained. “Going from a very technical background and a technical instinctive nature, being able to deal with hardware and now having to deal with people. I found it difficult, and it continues to be difficult. How do you convince people, not that we went to the moon, but that Christ is very real and wants to change their lives?”
Colonel James Irwin desired to spend all of his time sharing his faith. He was assigned as a backup for Apollo 17 and might have had a chance to go the moon a second time, if anything had happened to the astronauts chosen as the crew for the flight. In July 1972 he retired from the space program and took a part-time job as a pilot that allowed him to work but still spend time sharing his faith.
The former astronaut used a variety of means to share his faith and tell about traveling to the moon, besides public speaking. High Flight published a book, To Rule the Night, which contained the testimony of Colonel James Irwin, The Moon is not Enough, a book by Mary Irwin, wife of James Irwin, several tracts, and The Highest Flight, the New Testament with pictures of the Apollo 15 mission.
One of High Flight’s ministries, Project Uplift, was designed to not only share the Christian faith, but also encourage young people who were unsure what career to pursue.
“It’s a program of going into primarily high schools,” Irwin explained. “Sometimes we do programs in universities, sometimes the junior high level, to encourage young people, motivate them, try to inspire them. I just share how God worked in my life in the flight to the moon.
“I point out that I had lot of difficulties to overcome,” the former astronaut continued. “It wasn’t always easy; it was hard. All of us should have a goal; we should reach for it and be prepared to accomplish it and go on to something else.”
Young people could no doubt sympathize with Colonel James Irwin. Besides being twice rejected by NASA, as a young man did not know what career to pursue, and was rejected for a scholarship by Stanford. He did not like the navy and became part of the naval class that joined the new air force program but did not like flight training. He did stay long enough, however, to accumulate a total of more than 70,000 hours in flight.
Colonel James Irwin also geared part of his ministry to service men and women and sponsored several retreats for the military, including retreats for former POW’s coming back from Vietnam.
Colonel Irwin also traveled before his death, attempting to find Noah’s Ark.
As a child, some dream of being a policeman or policewoman, some of being a singer or an actor, some of being president, some of being an astronaut. Colonel James Irwin is one person who saw his dreams fulfilled and flew to the moon, yet believed his greatest accomplishment was sharing his faith with others.
He gave each group he spoke before an autographed picture of himself on the moon with an inscription: “Jesus Christ waking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon”
