Donald Herod Peterson was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Peterson was originally selected for the Air Force 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.
STS-6 was the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It deployed the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite into orbit for NASA, forming an integral part of NASAs in-space 10. It was also the first Space Shuttle mission involving a spacewalk. It was the first mission in which the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) was used.
Low Earth OrbitThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.