Young enjoyed one of the longest and busiest careers of any astronaut in the American space program. He was the first person to fly into space six times and twice journeyed to the moon.
Born in San Francisco, California, Young earned a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering with highest honors from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1952. After graduation Young entered the United States Navy, becoming a fighter pilot, and in 1959, a test pilot.
He joined NASA in 1962, and flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, and two space shuttle missions, STS-1, the first shuttle mission, and STS-9, the first shuttle flight with the spacelab laboratory. As of 2003, he still works for NASA in Houston, Texas.