Donald H. Peterson
Donald Herod Peterson was an American Air Force officer, test pilot, MOL astronaut, NASA astronaut, and . Selected for the Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory program in 1967, he transferred to NASA after MOL was canceled.
- Born
- October 22, 1933
- Died
- May 27, 2018
- Birthplace
- Winona, Mississippi,United States
Flights
1
Spacewalks
1
EVA time
4 hours, 17 minutes
In space
5 days, 23 minutes
Bio
Peterson's background was military and technical: West Point, nuclear engineering, Air Force service, and flight-test work. Like several other MOL astronauts, he entered NASA just as the agency was moving from Apollo toward Skylab and eventually Shuttle.
His only spaceflight was STS-6 in 1983, the first flight of Challenger. Peterson flew as a mission specialist with Paul Weitz, Karol Bobko, and Story Musgrave.
During STS-6, Peterson and Musgrave performed the first Space Shuttle , testing the shuttle airlock, spacesuits, and procedures that would later make satellite servicing and space-station construction possible.
Peterson retired from NASA in 1984 and later worked as an aerospace consultant. His single flight was a foundational mission for shuttle EVA operations.