I wrote this in my spare time last year.

James Benson Irwin
James Benson Irwin was born on March 17 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family later moved to San Hose, California where he met the Lady he would later marry, Mary Ellen Monroe.

In College He received a Bachelor of Science degree in naval science from the United States Naval Academy in 1951 and Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1957.

Irwin and Rover-1 during Apollo 15


FAITH
James Irwin was a strong Christian belonging to the Baptist church. He quoted Psalm while on the moon, "I’ll look unto the hills from whence cometh my help," then added quickly, "But, of course, we get quite a bit of help from Houston, too"

After resigning from NASA He and his Pastor, William H. Rittenhouse founded ‘High Flight Foundation’ an Organization that operated tours and retreats in the Holy Land. While there he led 2 expeditions to find Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat. During the search for it, he fell after reaching the 16,946 foot summit. He was carried down on horse-back to a hospital. 12 months later while in an airplane looking down on the peak of the mountain he proclaimed "It’s easier to walk on the moon. I’ve done all I possibly can, but the Ark continues to elude us."
NASA
Irwin was 1 of 19 Astronauts selected to go to space in April 1966. He 1^{st applied to be an astronaut in 1964 but was rejected twice before they finally accepted him in 1966. He was a part of the support group for Apollo 10 and a backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 12. Also, he was crew commander of Lunar Module (LTA-8). He was a Lunar Pilot for Apollo 15 from July 26rd to August 7th, 1971. His Buddies, during his space flight, were: ALFRED M. WORDEN (command module pilot) and DAVID R. SCOTT (spacecraft Commander). Their time on the moon was 3 days 66 hours 54 minutes! The longest at the time. Irwin and Scott were also the very 1st automobile passengers to "Drive in Space!" They drove on Hadley Rille and around the Apennine Mountains on the moon. After coming back from space, Apollo purposely landed in the Pacific Ocean and the USS OKINAWA recovered them.}

In July of 1972 Irwin retired from NASA and the Air Force with the rank of Colonel. After that, he founded THE HIGH FLIGHT FOUNDATION spending his last 20 years of life as "An Ambassador for the Prince of Peace." He stated that ‘Jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon!’ He frequently spoke about how his experiences in space had made the presence of God even more real to him than before.

After 2 heart-attacks, Irwin had a third very serious Heart Attack close to his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He died on August 8th 1991. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery, in section 3. Out of all the 12 men who have walked on the moon, Irwin was the first Apollo 15 Astronaut to die.