Don Peterson obit

Pioneering NASA Astronaut Don Peterson Dies at 84

He was not on the list.

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.