This Iowa native is being inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame

An Iowa native will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame this year.

David Hilmers, born in Clinton, and Marsha Ivins will join the 107 astronauts who are part of the hall of fame with a ceremony scheduled for June 1, according to a news release.

“These two veterans of the space program have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in furthering NASA’s mission of exploration and discovery,” said Curt Brown, board chairman of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which stewards the selection process. “Both Hilmers and Ivins represent the committed spirit of exploration, bravery and teamwork that make our space program a continued success. We are proud and honored to have them join the ranks of the space pioneers recognized in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.”

Who is David Hilmers?

Born in Clinton in 1950, Hilmers considers DeWitt his hometown, according to the news release.

The Iowa native worked for NASA for 12 years, logging 493 hours in space over the course of four missions, the Des Moines Register reported in 2021.

He was selected as an astronaut in 1980, previously enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps and attending Naval Postgraduate School in California.

His roles at NASA included shuttle software testing, extravehicular activity suit development — or the kind of suit used for spacewalks, according to NASA — capsule communicator for six shuttle flights and as operating as the head of the mission development branch of the astronaut office.

Hilmers flew on several missions, including as a mission specialist on STS-51J. The Department of Defense mission marked the first flight of space shuttle Atlantis, occurring from Oct. 3-7, 1985, according to NASA.

He was also part of the 1988 mission that “returned American astronauts to space,” NASA reported, following the Challenger disaster that killed seven crew members in an explosion quickly after launch in 1986. Hilmers flew as a mission specialist.

In February 1992, Hilmers retired from NASA and as a colonel in the Marine Corps. Currently, he is a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the Houston-based Baylor College of Medicine, according to the news release. His involvement with space continue. He works with NASA as the exploration medicine technical lead for the Clinical Science Team.

What is the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame?

Inductees are selected by a committee of hall of fame astronauts, former NASA officials, flight directors, historians and journalists, according to the news release. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida has displays for the hall of famers that visitors can see.

See photos of other Iowans who have made it to space

Iowans have long contributed their talents and intelligence to make space exploration possible.

More: A look at the Iowans who have made it to space

These individuals include:

• Clayton Anderson, who graduated from Iowa State University and completed six spacewalks by his retirement in 2013;
• Laurel Clark, who was born in Ames and spent 15 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes in space aboard space shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere;
• Walter Cunningham, the Creston-born man who piloted the 11-day Apollo 7 flight in 1968;
• Dale Gardner, who spent a total of 337 hours in space and considers Clinton his hometown;
• James Kelly, the Burlington-born astronaut who piloted the space shuttle Discovery on flights STS-102 and STS-114;
• George “Pinky” Nelson, who flew in several missions during the 1980s and was born in Charles City;
• Loren Shriver, the Jefferson-born man who was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2008;
• Peggy Whitson, who grew up in Beaconsfield and became the first woman to command the International Space Station; and
• Raja Chari, the Cedar Falls astronaut who served as commander of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission in 2021.

Paris Barraza is a trending and general assignment reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at pbarraza@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.