James Irwin, born March 17, 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the eighth person to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 15 mission. Launched July 26, 1971, Irwin served as the Lunar Module Pilot and explored the lunar surface with David Scott. Irwin became the first automobile passenger on the moon, taking rides in the Lunar Rover while Scott drove.
After working for about 23 hours, flight surgeons on Earth noticed Irwin was having irregularities in his heart rhythms. His heart had developed bigeminy, a continuous alternation of long and short heart beats. Essentially he was having a heart attack. If he was on Earth, flight surgeon Dr. Charles Berry said he would have put him in an ICU, but the lunar module had 100% oxygen atmosphere and in zero gravity so he was already in the best of circumstances. Once Irwin returned to Earth, the symptoms did not recur.
But Irwin did develop coronary problems later in life, after leaving NASA, and passed away from a heart attack on August 8, 1991.
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