Donald Peterson, Space Shuttle astronaut, born October 22, 1933

Donald Peterson, born October 22, 1933 in Winona, Mississippi, went into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-6) as mission specialist in April 1983.  It was the maiden flight of Challenger.  He and fellow astronaut Story Musgrave performed an EVA which lasted 4 hours 17 minutes.  He remained in space for just over 5 days.

He passed away in May 2018 from Alzheimer's disease and bone cancer.

Remembering Space Shuttle astronaut Don Peterson (1933-2018)

For the second time in a week, a former astronaut has passed away.   Donald Peterson, who was a mission specialist on Challenger's maiden voyage (STS-6) passed away May 27 from Alzheimer's disease and bone cancer.  He was 84.

He was in the third group of astronauts assigned to the US Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program, but when MOL was cancelled he went to NASA as an astronaut.

He served as astronaut support crew for Apollo 16 and then was assigned to the space shuttle program. During the STS-6 mission, he and Story Musgrave performed the first ever EVA of the shuttle program, logging just over 4 hours.