Tuesday, March 11, 2014

A Sad Salute to a Fallen Hero

It is with heavy heart that I send word of the passing of a great American hero, Dale Allan Gardner.  Captain Gardener served the United States with honor and distinction, first as a Naval aviator, then as an astronaut, and finally as a leader in our space defense forces and alternate energy technology development.

Captain Gardner was born in 1948 in Fairmont, Minnesota and graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics.  He served proudly as one of our first F-14 pilots in the first operational F-14 squadron, VF-1.  He later served on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise and was selected as an Astronaut Candidate in January of 1978.

  Gardner logged 337 hours and 225 orbits in space, serving aboard STS-8 in 1983 and STS-51A in 1984, the latter of which consisted of him performing a spacewalk using NASA's new MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) which allowed him to conduct the first space salvage operation.

Gardner's passing touches close to our chapter as after his departure from NASA he served as Deputy Chief Space Control Operations at Cheyenne Mountain AFB before redeploying as Deputy Director Space Control at Peterson AFB.  He concluded his service to his country and humanity as the Associate Director of Renewable Fuels Science and Technology at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.

He was laid to rest in the Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Memorial contributions may be sent in his name via the Pikes Peak United Way, 518 N. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903.

Farewell, honored hero ... and safe flight amongst the stars.