Astronaut Thomas Stafford, Apollo 10 commander, dies aged 93

Astronaut Thomas Patten Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first United States-Soviet space linkup, passed away on Monday at the age of 93.

Retired Air Force three-star general Stafford participated in four space missions and was present aboard two Gemini flights before Apollo 10, Politico reported.

He was one of 24 astronauts from the National Aerospace Space Agency (Nasa) who flew to the moon, but did not land on it. Only seven of them are still alive.

He died in a Florida hospital near his home in Space Coast, said Max Ary, director of the Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma.

Following Stafford's passing, Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Today General Tom Stafford went to the eternal heavens which he so courageously explored as a Gemini and Apollo astronaut as well as a peacemaker in Apollo Soyuz.

"Those of us privileged to know him are very sad but grateful we knew a giant."

After retiring, Stafford became Nasa’s "go-to" expert for independent advice on everything from human Mars missions to safety issues.

He chaired an oversight group to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, earning a Nasa public service award.

Stafford was in charge of the famous "Area 51" desert base which is the site of many unidentified flying object (UFO) theories and home of testing of Air Force stealth technologies.

"The most impressive sight, I think, that really changed your view of things is when you first see Earth," Stafford recalled in a 1997 oral history, talking about the view from lunar orbit.

"The Earth disappears. There’s this big black void."

Apollo 10’s return to Earth set the world record for fastest speed by a crewed vehicle at 24,791mph.