Astronaut John Young, who became one of the most accomplished astronauts in the history of the US space program, has died at age 87. 

According to NASA, Young, who went to space six times, died following complications from pneumonia.

Young was the only person to fly with three NASA programs.

He flew into space twice during NASA's Gemini program in the mid-1960s, twice on the Apollo lunar missions and twice on space shuttles in the 1980s.

The Apollo 16 mission in 1972 took Young to the lunar surface... making him the ninth man to walk on the moon.

His accomplished career didn't suffer even when NASA rebuked him for taking a sandwich into orbit, which also generated criticism from lawmakers and the media.

Young, described in a NASA tweet as "our most experienced astronaut," retired in 2004 after 42 years with the space agency.