Don L. Lind
Don Leslie Lind was an American physicist, naval officer, aviator, and NASA astronaut. Selected in NASA Astronaut Group 5 in 1966, he waited nearly nineteen years before making his only spaceflight on STS-51-B.
- Born
- May 18, 1930
- Died
- August 30, 2022
- Birthplace
- Midvale, Utah,United States
Flights
1
Spacewalks
0
EVA time
N/A
In space
7 days, 8 minutes
Bio
Lind combined scientific training with Navy aviation experience. Before becoming an astronaut, he worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and earned a doctorate in high-energy nuclear physics.
He served in Apollo and Skylab support roles before the shuttle era finally produced a flight assignment. His long wait for spaceflight is one of the notable stories of the Apollo-to-shuttle transition.
Lind flew on STS-51-B in 1985, a Spacelab mission focused on materials processing, life sciences, and microgravity research. He served as a aboard Challenger.
After NASA, Lind taught physics and remained active in education and community work. His career connects early scientist-astronaut selection with the eventual rise of shuttle laboratory missions.