Donald Herod Peterson (October 22, 1933 – May 27, 2018) was an American astronaut. He was born in Winona, Mississippi.
Career
Peterson was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Peterson was selected for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program, but, when that was canceled, he became a NASA astronaut in September 1969.
He was a mission specialist on STS-6 on board Challenger. During the mission Peterson performed a spacewalk to test the new airlock and space suits. He logged 120 hours in space. Peterson retired from NASA in 1984.
Death
Peterson died on May 27, 2018 at his home in El Lago, Texas of Alzheimer's disease and bone cancer at the age of 84.