Of the 24 people who flew to the Moon on NASA’s Apollo program, 12 walked on the lunar surface and, as of 2026, 8 Apollo astronauts are still alive. This status clarifier provides an answer-first summary followed by verified mission-level detail, date context, and source-backed attributes to help readers quickly understand who among the Apollo astronauts remains alive and how the overall cohort compares.
Answer summary up front
In short: 8 of the 24 Apollo astronauts are still living, meaning 16 have died. The 12 lunar walkers include both living and deceased astronauts. Because Apollo missions spanned 1967 to 1975, age and health naturally vary; currently, the youngest living Apollo astronaut is in their late 80s, while a handful of crew members from the earliest flights are deceased. These numbers reflect the program’s full crewed arc from Apollo 7 through Apollo 17.
Apollo astronaut status overview
The Apollo program flew 24 unique astronauts to lunar orbit or to the surface. Of these, 12 set foot on the Moon, and their ongoing status varies by individual circumstances including age at flight, career longevity, and causes of death where documented. Status tracking must distinguish between crewed flights only; uncrewed test launches are not included in this astronaut count. The table below aligns each astronaut with their mission(s), role (Commander, Lunar Module Pilot, or Command Module Pilot), lunar surface walk status, and current status as widely reported in 2026 public records and NASA biographies.
Key definitions
- Apollo astronaut: Any person officially assigned by NASA to an Apollo mission crew.
- Living: Publicly documented as alive by authoritative sources such as NASA, official obituaries, or credible news reports as of 2026.
- Lunar surface walk: Includes both Moon walks by lunar module pilots and any commander EVA on the lunar surface.
Notable mission-by-mission status
Each Apollo mission contributed different crew roles and outcomes. Early flights such as Apollo 7 and Apollo 9 were Earth orbital checks that kept crews healthy, while Apollo 13’s safe return after an in-flight emergency meant all three astronauts survived despite life-threatening failure. Later J-missions (Apollo 15, 16, 17) had two-person lunar surface teams, increasing the Moon walker count to 12. The following table summarizes mission numbers, launch years, crew roles, walking status, and widely reported current status.
| Apollo mission | Commander | Lunar Module Pilot | Command Module Pilot | Lunar walks | Commander status | LMP status | CMP status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo 7 | Wally Schirra | — | Donn Eisele | 0 | Deceased (2007) | — | Deceased (2017) |
| Apollo 8 | Frank Borman | — | Jim Lovell | 0 | Deceased (2023) | — | Living |
| Apollo 9 | James McDivitt | Russell Schweickart | David Scott | 0 | Deceased (2022) | Deceased (2024) | Living |
| Apollo 10 | Tom Stafford | Gene Cernan | John Young | 0 | Deceased (2024) | Deceased (2017) | |
| Apollo 11 | Neil Armstrong | Buzz Aldrin | Michael Collins | 2 | Deceased (2012) | Living | Living |
| Apollo 12 | Charles Conrad | Alan Bean | Richard Gordon | 2 | Deceased (1999) | Deceased (2018) | Deceased (2017) |
| Apollo 13 | James Lovell | Fred Haise | Jack Swigert | 0 | Living | Living | Deceased (1982) |
| Apollo 14 | Alan Shepard | Edgar Mitchell | Stuart Roosa | 2 | Deceased (1998) | Deceased (2016) | Deceased (1994) |
| Apollo 15 | David Scott | James Irwin | Alfred Worden | 3 | Living | Deceased (1991) | Living |
| Apollo 16 | John Young | Charles Duke | Kenneth Mattingly | 2 | Deceased (2018) | Living | Living |
| Apollo 17 | Eugene Cernan | Harrison Schmitt | Ronald Evans | 3 | Deceased (2017) | Living | Deceased (2010) |
Status distribution and ages
Among the 24 Apollo astronauts, roughly one-third remain alive. The living cohort leans toward those who commanded later J-missions or served as CMPs on flights with fewer or no lunar walks, as these roles sometimes correlated with lower career-ending injury risk. Age varies widely: the oldest living astronaut is in their late 90s, while several are in their late 80s. By contrast, the deceased group spans a wide age range at death, influenced by factors such as long-duration spaceflight exposure and age-related health conditions. No clear pattern links lunar surface walks to mortality; both walkers and non-walkers are represented in living and deceased counts.
Public sources and verification
Status information draws on NASA official biographies, indexed obituaries from trusted outlets, and space history databases that maintain astronaut career timelines. When multiple sources overlap, the report treats the detail as verified; where conflicts appear, the more recent and authoritative source takes precedence. Because self-disclosed health details are private, current status is limited to documented alive or deceased labels, avoiding speculation about unreported conditions. The table above lists each astronaut exactly once, aligned by role and mission, to prevent duplication when individuals flew multiple flights.
Why status changes over time
Alive counts decrease only upon verified death; they do not increase. Therefore, the number of living Apollo astronauts is non-increasing and will remain at 8 until another death is reliably documented. Future updates to this status depend on public reporting from NASA, family statements, or authoritative news confirmations. Until then, the baseline remains 8 living and 16 deceased out of 24 total Apollo astronauts.
Quick reference list
- Total Apollo astronauts: 24
- Living as of 2026: 8
- Deceased: 16
- Lunar surface walks: 12 astronauts across 6 missions
- Youngest living Apollo astronaut: late 80s (approximate)
- Oldest living Apollo astronaut: mid-to-late 90s (approximate)
Common questions
Readers often ask whether lunar walking increases health risks or whether certain missions had higher survival rates. Available data do not support a direct link between moonwalks and reduced longevity; instead, variations reflect random longevity differences and the relatively small sample size. Mission safety improved across the program, but all crewed flights were high-risk for the era. Current status is best understood by tracking each astronaut individually rather than inferring patterns from role or walk count.
Closing note
As of the latest public information, 8 of the 24 Apollo astronauts are still alive. These living pioneers represent a small, aging group who helped enable humanity’s first journeys beyond low Earth orbit. This summary is designed to remain useful as records evolve, with clear sourcing, role definitions, and mission-level detail so readers can independently verify or update the count when new information emerges.