What Happened to John Leonard "Jack" Swigert Jr.?

John Leonard "Jack" Swigert Jr. was born on August 30, 1931, in Denver, Colorado. From a young age, he developed a passion for aviation, earning his private pilot's license by age 16. He pursued a robust education, earning a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1953, a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1965, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hartford in 1967.

Swigert's early career included service as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1956, including a tour in Japan and Korea, and later with the Massachusetts and Connecticut Air National Guard. He also worked as an engineering test pilot for North American Aviation and Pratt & Whitney before being selected as an astronaut by NASA in April 1966 as part of Astronaut Group 5.

His most famous assignment came just 72 hours before the launch of Apollo 13 in April 1970, when he was called to replace Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly, who had been exposed to German measles. During the mission, an oxygen tank exploded, jeopardizing the lives of the three-person crew. Swigert's calm demeanor and expertise were instrumental in working with ground control to improvise solutions, such as adapting the command module's square carbon dioxide scrubbers to fit the lunar module, ultimately ensuring the crew's safe return to Earth on April 17, 1970. His famous words, "Houston, we've had a problem here," became iconic.

After the Apollo 13 mission, Swigert took a leave of absence from NASA in 1973 to serve as the Executive Director of the Committee on Science and Technology for the U.S. House of Representatives. He officially resigned from NASA in 1977 to pursue a career in politics. After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1978, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Colorado's newly created 6th Congressional District in November 1982, winning with 64% of the vote.

Tragically, during his congressional campaign in August 1982, Swigert was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his right nasal passage, which later spread to his bone marrow and lungs. Despite undergoing chemotherapy and surgery, his condition worsened. He died of respiratory failure due to bone cancer on December 27, 1982, at the age of 51, just a week before he was to be sworn into Congress. Swigert was never married and had no children. His legacy endures through numerous posthumous honors, including induction into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983 and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997. A statue of Swigert was placed in the U.S. Capitol Building in 1997, representing the state of Colorado. As of 2026, the distance record set by Apollo 13 astronauts, who flew farther from Earth than any other humans, is anticipated to be surpassed by the Artemis II lunar flyby.