Astronaut Thomas Stafford, Commander Of Apollo 10, Dies At 93

This Aug. 23, 1965 photo provided by NASA shows astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, near the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever in the Gulf of Mexico during training. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday, March 18, 2024. He was 93. (NASA via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The NASA astronaut who commanded the dress rehearsal mission for the 1969 moon landing has died.

Thomas Stafford died Monday in a Florida hospital.

He was 93.

Before Apollo 10, Stafford also took part in the first rendezvous of two U.S. spacecraft in 1965.

A decade later, he because the first American to shake hands with a Soviet citizen in space when an Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soyuz craft.

Later, Stafford was the go-to guy for NASA when it sought independent advice on everything from human Mars missions to returning to flight after the 2003 space shuttle Columbia accident.