icon Complete List of Dead Astronauts

This is a complete list of U.S. career astronauts who are deceased. Private contractors and civilians who flew on the Shuttle under the classification "payload specialist" - sometimes called "payload specialist astronaut" by NASA - are not included.

Mercury through Skylab
NameProgram & FlightDODCause of Death
Bill AndersApollo 86/7/2024private plane crash
Neil ArmstrongGemini 8, Apollo 118/25/2012complications from heart surgery
Charles BassettGemini program (no flights)2/28/1966training mission plane crash
Alan BeanApollo 125/26/2018illness
Frank BormanApollo 811/7/2023stroke
John BullApollo program (no flights)8/11/2008lengthy illness
Scott CarpenterMercury 710/10/2013natural causes
Jerry CarrSkylab 48/26/2020natural causes
Gene CernanGemini 9, Apollo 10 & 171/16/2017natural causes
Roger ChaffeeApollo 11/27/1967Apollo 1 fire
Philip ChapmanApollo program (no flights)4/5/2021natural causes
Micahel CollinsGemini 10, Apollo 114/28/2021cancer
Charles 'Pete' ConradGemini 5 & 11, Apollo 12, Skylab 27/7/1999motorcycle accident
Gordon CooperMercury 9, Gemini 510/4/2004natural causes
Walt CunninghamApollo 71/3/2023injuries from a fall
Donn EiseleApollo 712/2/1987heart attack
Ronald EvansApollo 174/6/1990heart attack
Theodore FreemanGemini program (no flights)10/31/1964training mission plane crash
Owen GarriottSkylab 34/15/2019
Edward GivensApollo program (no flights)6/6/1967automobile accident
John GlennMercury 612/8/2016lengthy illness
Richard GordonGemini 11, Apollo 1211/6/2017
Duane GravelineApollo program (no flights)9/5/2016nautral causes
Virgil "Gus" GrissomMercury 4, Gemini 3, Apollo 11/27/1967Apollo 1 fire
James IrwinApollo 158/8/1991heart attack
Ken MattinglyApollo 1610/31/2023natural causes
Jim McDivittGemini 4, Apollo 910/13/2022natural causes
Curt MichelApollo program (no flights)2/26/2015natural causes
Edgar MitchellApollo 142/4/2016brief illness
Brian O'LearyApollo program (no flights)7/28/2011cancer of the intestine
Bill PogueSkylab3/3/2014natural causes
Stuart RoosaApollo 1412/12/1994pancreatitis
Wally SchirraMercury 8, Gemini 6, Apollo 75/3/2007heart attack
Alan ShepardMercury 3, Apollo 14 7/21/1998leukemia
Donald "Deke" Slayton Mercury program (no flights), Apollo-Soyuz6/13/1993brain tumor
Elliot SeeGemini program (no flights)2/28/1966training mission plane crash
Thomas StaffordApollo 10, ASTP3/18/2024liver cancer
John SwigertApollo 1312/27/1982cancer
Paul WeitzSkylab10/23/2017cancer
Edward WhiteGemini 4, Apollo 11/27/1967Apollo 1 fire
Clifton WilliamsGemini program (no flights)10/5/1967training mission plane crash
Alfred WordenApollo 153/18/2020natural causes
John YoungGemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, 2 Shuttle1/5/2018illness

Shuttle
NameDODCause of Death
Michael Anderson 2/1/2003Columbia accident
Karol J. Bobko8/17/2023natural causes (age)
Charles Brady7/23/2006prolonged illness
David Brown2/1/2003Columbia accident
'Sonny' Carter4/05/1991commercial plane crash
Kalpana Chawla2/1/2003Columbia accident
Laurel Clark2/1/2003Columbia accident
Mary J. Cleave11/27/2023
Rich Clifford12/28/2021Parkinson's disease
Samuel T. Durrance5/5/2023complications from a fall
Joe Engle7/10/2024natural causes
C. Gordon Fullerton8/21/2013complications from a stroke
Dale Gardner2/19/2014of a brain aneurysm
David Griggs6/17/1989training mission plane crash
Hank Hartsfield7/17/2014complications from back surgery
Karl Henize10/5/1993heart attack while climbing Mt. Everest
Rick Husband2/1/2003Columbia accident
Bill Lenoir8/26/2010bicycle accident
Anthony Llewellyn7/2/2013brief illness
G. David Low3/15/2008colon cancer
Bruce McCandless12/21/2017
William McCool2/1/2003Columbia accident
Ronald McNair1/28/1986Challenger explosion
Steve Nagel8/21/2014cancer
Ellison Onizuka1/28/1986Challenger explosion
Robert Overmyer3/22/1996test aircraft crash
Donald H. Peterson5/27/2018cancer
Alan Poindexter7/1/2012boating accident
Judith Resnik1/28/1986Challenger explosion
Sally Ride7/23/2012pancreatic cancer
Francis Scobee1/28/1986Challenger explosion
Rick Searfoss9/29/2018not reported
Michael Smith1/28/1986Challenger explosion
Stephen Thorne5/24/1986private plane crash
William E. Thornton1/11/2021natural causes
Richard Truly2/27/2024natural causes
Charles Veach10/3/1995prolonged illness
Janice Voss2/6/2012cancer
David Walker4/23/2001cancer
Paul Weitz10/23/2017cancer
Donald Williams2/23/2016cause not reported

Also killed in the Challenger explosion were payload specialists Christa McAuliffe and Gregory Jarvis.

Also killed in the Columbia accident was Israeli payload specialist Ilan Ramon.

Space Station
NameDODCause of Death
Frank Caldeiro10/3/2009brain tumor
Patricia Robertson 5/24/2001private plane crash