Second NASA astronaut dies over Memorial Day weekend

Space Shuttle astronaut Don Peterson Space Shuttle astronaut Don Peterson Photo: Credit: NASA Photo: Credit: NASA Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Second NASA astronaut dies over Memorial Day weekend 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Col. Don Peterson spent 24 years in the Air Force, became a NASA astronaut during the Apollo era and participated in the first spacewalk of the 30-year Space Shuttle program.

But after his death Sunday at the age of 84, his family will remember him more for his honesty and gentleness than for his stellar career.

"Don would tell you his greatest joy was caring for and spending time with his wife and family," his obituary reads. "Saying 'I love you' came easy and often from him ... He told his grandchildren, 'holding them in his rocking chair was better than floating in space.' His unconditional love for all of them will be treasured always."

Peterson was the second astronaut to die over the weekend, both in Texas. The first was Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon, who died Saturday at the age of 86.

Originally from Mississippi, Peterson became an astronaut in 1969, just a few months after the first lunar landing in July of that year. Though Peterson never reached the moon, he rocketed out of Earth's atmosphere on Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983, just two years into the 30-year shuttle program.

On Tuesday morning, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Twitter he was "saddened" by Peterson's death.

"Don will always be part of the @NASA family & his legacy as a pioneer in space lives on," Bridenstine wrote.

Peterson is known for participating in the shuttle program's first spacewalk, alongside astronaut Story Musgrave, during his 1983 Challenger flight. But flying was always part of Peterson's life, even as a child.

"He would later tell his own children that as a young boy he had reoccurring dreams of flying, without the aid of wings or a plane, just soaring above the Earth," the obituary reads. "This dream set him on a quest for knowledge to discover the universe and its secrets."

At 17, Peterson boarded a train bound for New York to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, which he graduated from in 1955. He became a pilot and later, in 1962, received a master's degree in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Ohio-based Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

He became an astronaut in 1969, but remained in the Air Force for many years. He retired from NASA in 1984 following his Challenger flight, logging 120 hours in space.

Peterson is survived by Brother; Gil Peterson, and his three children. Peterson's wife, Bonnie, died last year at the age of 82. They were married for almost 60 years.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Crowder Funeral Home, located at 111 E. Medical Center Blvd. in Webster.

"His family is comforted knowing his childhood dream of flying has been fulfilled in this life and hereafter," his obituary reads.

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.