As Jack Swigert, the command module pilot for Apollo 13, found out, even an astronaut in space needs to file his taxes on time (or ask for an extension). Commander John Leonard Swigert Jr. joined the crew at the last minute and was in mid-mission in space, when he realized he was going to miss the April 15th tax filing deadline.
He radioed Houston to request an extension and although the ground crew thought he was a joking, he wasn’t! The NASA transcripts document his transmission as “Hey, listen, it ain’t too funny; things kind of happened real fast down there, and I do need an extension. I didn’t get mine filed, and this is serious.”
Commander Swigert later ran for Congress, and during his campaign was diagnosed with cancer. Although he won the election for Representative to the U.S. House of Representatives for Colorado’s 6th District in 1982, he sadly passed away before being sworn into office. Commander John Leonard Swigert Jr. was the recipient of both the NASA Distinguished Service Medal as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom.