Former NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut Dale Gardner Dead at 65

Dale Gardner's countless contributions to NASA as well as his country will not be forgotten. Gardner passed away last Wednesday in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which is where his funeral will be held today. His over 8-year career with NASA came during an historical time for the space program.

Gardner graduated from the University of Illinois in 1970 and entered into active duty with the U.S. Navy in Pensacola, Florida. He graduated from the VT-10 squadron and finished with the highest academic average ever achieved in the squadron's history. He spent eight years in the Navy before being selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1978.

He logged significant space time during his duration with NASA, accumulating 337 hours in space during 225 orbits of Earth on two space shuttle flights. Thanks to his extensive flying experience achieved in the Navy, Gardner also accrued 2300 hours of flying time in over 20 different types of aircraft and spacecraft. He worked for NASA during the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, and his father mentioned that Dale had left NASA after 8.5 years because he was frustrated by the hiatus instituted following the accident.

Gardner's space flight missions included the STS-8 and the STS-51A. The STS-8 was the third flight of the Orbiter Challenger, which performed various Earth resources and space science experiments while completing 98 Earth orbits in 145 hours. The STS-51A was the fourteenth flight of the shuttle program in which the crew deployed two satellites and returned to Earth with two other satellites that were previously improperly launched into orbit. The STS-51A completed 127 Earth orbits in eight days.

During his time with the U.S. Navy and NASA, Gardner earned various special honors including: the Defense Superior Service Medal (three times), Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Unit Commendations, Humanitarian Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, NASA Space Flight Media (two times), Master Space Badge, and the Lloyd's of London Meritorious Service Medal.

Dale Gardner's funeral will be held today in Colorado Springs, Colorado. NASA should be scheduled to hold a memorial service for him based on his various contributions to the space program. To read more about Mr. Gardner's achievements, visit the NASA website as well as this ABC News article.