The moon is in the news lately. NASA’s long-planned Artemis mission launched in November 2022, with the intention of establishing a manned presence on the Moon — in preparation for going to Mars in the not-too-distant future. And we all celebrated the recent success of the second phase — Artemis II — when four astronauts did a fly-by around the “dark side” of the moon just last month.
But this all seems like déjà vu to those of us over a certain age who live in West Pasco County. In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy famously set forth the idea of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth” before the end of that decade. Thus, 51 years before Artemis, NASA began the Apollo program to achieve that goal. And New Port Richey’s own James B. Irwin helped to get us there.
Born on March 17, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his father was a steamfitter whose job required him to move to find work. In September of 1941, when Irwin was just 11 years old, the family moved to New Port Richey after buying a house at the corner of Grand Boulevard and Illinois Avenue from former city mayor Fred Howard.
Irwin attended Pierce Elementary School (now occupied by the New Port Richey Library) for the sixth grade. At the same time, he was enrolled at Gulf High School taking seventh grade classes for half the day. His father could not find work in New Port Richey and had to take a job at the Orlando Air Base, and commuted back-and-forth on weekends. At the end of the school year, the Irwin family moved to Orlando.
Even though Irwin’s formative years in New Port Richey were cut short, he remembered that short time as having great significance in his life. He reportedly told his mother when he was 12 years old that he wanted to go to the moon, and that he dreamed of being the first person to do so. Later in his life, he related that he had first accepted Christ at the First Baptist Church of New Port Richey during his time in West Pasco County.
After living a time in Orlando, the family eventually moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Irwin graduated from high school there in 1947. Then he went to the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated with a degree in naval science. A Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering was earned from the University of Michigan in 1957.
After receiving flight training at Hondo Air Base and Reese Air Base, Irwin became a test pilot and attended Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1963. During his time in the Air Force, he received numerous commendations and medals and was chief of a branch of the Air Defense Command.
In April 1966, Irwin was selected by NASA as one of the original 19 astronauts for the Apollo program. He served a number of roles in the program, culminating in his being chosen as the lunar module pilot for Apollo 15. During that mission, he spent 295 hours in space, and 18 hours and 35 minutes of extravehicular activity on the lunar surface. His childhood wish to be the first on the moon turned out to be slightly ambitious — he was actually the eighth man to walk on the moon.
After the Apollo 15 mission, Irwin retired from NASA as a colonel in 1972 to devote his life to a spiritual mission. His time in space had a profound impact on him, and he spent the rest of his life as a “Goodwill Ambassador for the Prince of Peace.” He was quoted as saying that his experiences in space had made God more real to him than before.
Back in 1966, when he was in training for his moon mission at Kennedy Space Center, Irwin brought his wife and four children back to revisit his early home of New Port Richey — to show them where he lived when he was a child. And then on July 9, 1972, just days before his retirement, Irwin was the guest speaker at the 50th anniversary of the First Baptist Church of New Port Richey — the place where he first accepted Christ when he was 12 years old. During his visit, Irwin was presented with a key to the city of New Port Richey, and July 9 was proclaimed as “James B. Irwin” day by the City Council.
In October 1979, Irwin made another visit to New Port Richey when the First Baptist Church dedicated their new sanctuary on Circle Boulevard. He also gave a talk at Gulf High School and was a guest speaker for the New Port Richey Rotary Club. He visited again in September 1985 to give a presentation at the local Baptist church.
Irwin had many accomplishments in his life aside from his storied career in the Air Force and NASA. After retirement, he went on to found “High Flight” — a Christian evangelical foundation. And beginning in 1973, he famously led several expeditions to Mount Ararat in search of Noah’s Ark.
The Irwin family lived in Colorado Springs after his retirement from NASA. He and his wife, Mary, had five children. Irwin obviously had a strong spiritual connection with New Port Richey. But he chose Colorado as his home due to his connections there.
Irwin died on August 8, 1991. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Paul Herman is the Digital Media Archivist for the West Pasco Historical Society.