Samuel Durrance, who as an astronomer was one of the first non-career astronauts to fly with NASA after the loss of space shuttle Challenger, has died at the age of 79.
Durrance's death on Friday (May 5) came as result of complications from a fall, as reported by the Astro Restoration Project, a volunteer-driven effort to preserve the astronomical hardware that Durrance helped design and use in space.
"Sam died quietly today surrounded by family after a long struggle with dementia and Parkinson's disease. He had spent his final days in hospice care at a facility in Viera, Florida," his family said. "A true scientist to the end and beyond, Sam asked that his body be donated to support the ongoing medical research associated with astronauts who have flown in space."
Durrance was chosen to train and fly as a payload specialist due to his work as a co-investigator for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, one of the instruments originally slated to launch with the STS-61E crew on the space shuttle Columbia in March 1986. The Challenger tragedy, though, delayed the flight, and Durrance finally lifted off on Dec. 2, 1990.
