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| Name | Program & Flight | DOD | Cause of Death |
|---|
| Bill Anders | Apollo 8 | 6/7/2024 | private plane crash |
| Neil Armstrong | Gemini 8, Apollo 11 | 8/25/2012 | complications from heart surgery |
| Charles Bassett | Gemini program (no flights) | 2/28/1966 | training mission plane crash |
| Alan Bean | Apollo 12 | 5/26/2018 | illness |
| Frank Borman | Apollo 8 | 11/7/2023 | stroke |
| John Bull | Apollo program (no flights) | 8/11/2008 | lengthy illness |
| Scott Carpenter | Mercury 7 | 10/10/2013 | natural causes |
| Jerry Carr | Skylab 4 | 8/26/2020 | natural causes |
| Gene Cernan | Gemini 9, Apollo 10 & 17 | 1/16/2017 | natural causes |
| Roger Chaffee | Apollo 1 | 1/27/1967 | Apollo 1 fire |
| Philip Chapman | Apollo program (no flights) | 4/5/2021 | natural causes |
| Micahel Collins | Gemini 10, Apollo 11 | 4/28/2021 | cancer |
| Charles 'Pete' Conrad | Gemini 5 & 11, Apollo 12, Skylab 2 | 7/7/1999 | motorcycle accident |
| Gordon Cooper | Mercury 9, Gemini 5 | 10/4/2004 | natural causes |
| Walt Cunningham | Apollo 7 | 1/3/2023 | injuries from a fall |
| Donn Eisele | Apollo 7 | 12/2/1987 | heart attack |
| Ronald Evans | Apollo 17 | 4/6/1990 | heart attack |
| Theodore Freeman | Gemini program (no flights) | 10/31/1964 | training mission plane crash |
| Owen Garriott | Skylab 3 | 4/15/2019 | |
| Edward Givens | Apollo program (no flights) | 6/6/1967 | automobile accident |
| John Glenn | Mercury 6 | 12/8/2016 | lengthy illness |
| Richard Gordon | Gemini 11, Apollo 12 | 11/6/2017 | |
| Duane Graveline | Apollo program (no flights) | 9/5/2016 | nautral causes |
| Virgil "Gus" Grissom | Mercury 4, Gemini 3, Apollo 1 | 1/27/1967 | Apollo 1 fire |
| James Irwin | Apollo 15 | 8/8/1991 | heart attack |
| Jim Lovell | Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, Apollo 13 | 8/7/2025 | natural causes |
| Ken Mattingly | Apollo 16 | 10/31/2023 | natural causes |
| Jim McDivitt | Gemini 4, Apollo 9 | 10/13/2022 | natural causes |
| Curt Michel | Apollo program (no flights) | 2/26/2015 | natural causes |
| Edgar Mitchell | Apollo 14 | 2/4/2016 | brief illness |
| Brian O'Leary | Apollo program (no flights) | 7/28/2011 | cancer of the intestine |
| Bill Pogue | Skylab | 3/3/2014 | natural causes |
| Stuart Roosa | Apollo 14 | 12/12/1994 | pancreatitis |
| Wally Schirra | Mercury 8, Gemini 6, Apollo 7 | 5/3/2007 | heart attack |
| Alan Shepard | Mercury 3, Apollo 14 | 7/21/1998 | leukemia |
| Donald "Deke" Slayton | Mercury program (no flights), Apollo-Soyuz | 6/13/1993 | brain tumor |
| Elliot See | Gemini program (no flights) | 2/28/1966 | training mission plane crash |
| Thomas Stafford | Apollo 10, ASTP | 3/18/2024 | liver cancer |
| John Swigert | Apollo 13 | 12/27/1982 | cancer |
| Paul Weitz | Skylab | 10/23/2017 | cancer |
| Edward White | Gemini 4, Apollo 1 | 1/27/1967 | Apollo 1 fire |
| Clifton Williams | Gemini program (no flights) | 10/5/1967 | training mission plane crash |
| Alfred Worden | Apollo 15 | 3/18/2020 | natural causes |
| John Young | Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, 2 Shuttle | 1/5/2018 | illness |
Shuttle| Name | DOD | Cause of Death |
|---|
| Michael Anderson | 2/1/2003 | Columbia accident |
| Karol J. Bobko | 8/17/2023 | natural causes (age) |
| Charles Brady | 7/23/2006 | prolonged illness |
| David Brown | 2/1/2003 | Columbia accident |
| 'Sonny' Carter | 4/05/1991 | commercial plane crash |
| Kalpana Chawla | 2/1/2003 | Columbia accident |
| Laurel Clark | 2/1/2003 | Columbia accident |
| Mary J. Cleave | 11/27/2023 | |
| Rich Clifford | 12/28/2021 | Parkinson's disease |
| Samuel T. Durrance | 5/5/2023 | complications from a fall |
| Joe Engle | 7/10/2024 | natural causes |
| C. Gordon Fullerton | 8/21/2013 | complications from a stroke |
| Dale Gardner | 2/19/2014 | of a brain aneurysm |
| Marc Garneau | 6/4/2025 | cancer |
| David Griggs | 6/17/1989 | training mission plane crash |
| Hank Hartsfield | 7/17/2014 | complications from back surgery |
| Frederick Hauck | 11/6/2025 | |
| Karl Henize | 10/5/1993 | heart attack while climbing Mt. Everest |
| Rick Husband | 2/1/2003 | Columbia accident |
| Bill Lenoir | 8/26/2010 | bicycle accident |
| Anthony Llewellyn | 7/2/2013 | brief illness |
| G. David Low | 3/15/2008 | colon cancer |
| Bruce McCandless | 12/21/2017 | |
| William McCool | 2/1/2003 | Columbia accident |
| Ronald McNair | 1/28/1986 | Challenger explosion |
| Steve Nagel | 8/21/2014 | cancer |
| Ellison Onizuka | 1/28/1986 | Challenger explosion |
| Robert Overmyer | 3/22/1996 | test aircraft crash |
| Donald H. Peterson | 5/27/2018 | cancer |
| Alan Poindexter | 7/1/2012 | boating accident |
| Judith Resnik | 1/28/1986 | Challenger explosion |
| Sally Ride | 7/23/2012 | pancreatic cancer |
| Francis Scobee | 1/28/1986 | Challenger explosion |
| Rick Searfoss | 9/29/2018 | not reported |
| Michael Smith | 1/28/1986 | Challenger explosion |
| Stephen Thorne | 5/24/1986 | private plane crash |
| William E. Thornton | 1/11/2021 | natural causes |
| Richard Truly | 2/27/2024 | natural causes |
| Charles Veach | 10/3/1995 | prolonged illness |
| Janice Voss | 2/6/2012 | cancer |
| David Walker | 4/23/2001 | cancer |
| Paul Weitz | 10/23/2017 | cancer |
| Donald Williams | 2/23/2016 | cause 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| Name | DOD | Cause of Death |
|---|
| Frank Caldeiro | 10/3/2009 | brain tumor |
| Patricia Robertson | 5/24/2001 | private plane crash |
