Biography

Awards - Hall of Fame Inductions

Astronaut joins Houston notables

Space endeavors earn John Young newest place in city's hall of fame

It isn't exactly to Houston what football is to Canton, Ohio, but the Bayou City does have a hall of fame to celebrate its notable residents.

On Friday, Houston inducted its 11th member -- and the first astronaut to join the illustrious group -- Apollo 16 veteran John Young.

In a ceremony held in conjunction with the World Space Congress at the George R. Brown Convention Center, several dozen congress attendees and a few local dignitaries, including Mayor Lee Brown, welcomed Young to the hall of fame.

The city created the hall in 1999 with 10 inductees. Two months ago, plaques honoring them were placed in a third-floor atrium of the convention center.

Each plaque has a short biography of the inductee and includes a personal artifact or two. Young's plaque displays a model of the lunar command-and-service module and an Apollo 16 patch.

Brown called Young "one of the most decorated figures in American aerospace history" and said he was the clear choice to be this year's inductee.

"He joins other Houstonians in an honor so richly deserved," Brown said. "As you look at those persons who compromise this elite shrine, it is quite clear that Houstonians have made their mark on the world."

After graduating from Georgia Tech in 1952, Young joined the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War. The naval pilot was selected as an astronaut in September 1962. Young is the first person to fly six times in space, working aboard missions from Gemini 3 in 1965 to the first Spacelab flight in 1983. In 1972, he flew on Apollo 16 to the moon, where he drove the lunar rover more than 16 miles across the surface and collected 200 pounds of rocks.

Young continues to work at Johnson Space Center, serving since 1996 as associate director overseeing the safety, technical and operational care of all center programs and activities. He remains an active astronaut and gave lectures at the World Space Congress this week.

Young said he's been fortunate to work with thousands of talented people at NASA who "are far more deserving than I of being in the Houston Hall of Fame."

While the honor recognizes his past achievements, Young said it's important to look ahead.

"As you can see, human space exploration is just beginning," he said. "It's not what you have done that people care about, it's what you are going to do."

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