Ken Mattingly, a former NASA astronaut, passed away at the age of 87. Mattingly joined NASA in 1966 and his first spaceflight was on Apollo 16 in 1972. After the Apollo program, Mattingly played a key role in the shuttle program and commanded the fourth Earth-orbiting test flight of the shuttle Columbia in 1982. He was also the commander of the first space shuttle flight for the Department of Defense in 1985. Mattingly was famously removed from the Apollo 13 crew due to potential exposure to German measles but played a significant role in the mission’s safe return to Earth.