Astronaut Rick Searfoss, Who Flew On Three Space Shuttle Missions, Dies at 62

space.com ^ | October 9, 2018 07:04am ET | Robert Z. Pearlman,

[BenLurkin]

Richard Alan "Rick" Searfoss was born June 5, 1956 in Mount Clemens, Michigan...

Searfoss received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1978 and a master of science in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) on a National Science Foundation Fellowship in 1979.

He graduated in 1980 from undergraduate pilot training at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona. From 1981 through 1984, Searfoss flew the F-111F tactical strike aircraft at RAF Lakenheath, England, followed by a tour at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, where he was an F-111A instructor pilot and weapons officer until 1987.

In 1988, he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River in Maryland, as a U.S. Air Force exchange officer.

Rising to the rank of colonel in the Air Force, Searfoss logged more than 6,100 hours in 84 different types of aircraft.

Searfoss was appointed the chief judge of the Ansari X PRIZE, presiding over the $10 million contest won in 2004 by Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne for the first privately-funded, suborbital crewed vehicle to fly into space. He was also one of two test pilots to qualify to fly the now-former XCOR Aerospace's EZ-Rocket, an experimental rocket plane and predecessor to the planned Lynx suborbital space plane.

He served as an instructor pilot at the National Test Pilot School at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, a consultant and motivational speaker. Searfoss also advised several Hollywood movies, including "The Core" in 2003 and "Oblivion" in 2013.

Searfoss was the recipient of the Air Force Commendation Medal, a Distinguished Flying Cross and NASA Exceptional Service and Outstanding Leadership medals, among other awards and honors.

Searfoss is survived by his wife, Julie (McGuire), and their daughters Megan, Liz and Camille

[nikos1121]

What was cause of death?

[BenLurkin]

Not stated.

Can only guess. Cancer maybe?

[nikos1121]

I read somewhere that they expect an increase in stomach and colon cancer in astronauts from the radiation exposure.

[al baby]

The cause of death was not reported you one of those that dont read the whole story

[nikos1121]

That’s why I asked, amigo...

[Moonman62]

There does seem to be a cardiovascular effect for those who fly beyond low earth orbit.

https://www.space.com/33571-apollo-astronauts-heart-risk-deep-space-travel.html

[BenLurkin]

Well in fairness, I could have included that in the excerpt. How is always a question when young people die. (62 sounds young to me!)

The last half of the article read like a straightforward obituary and was very close to the 300 word limit in length. I opted to use that as the excerpt, so “my bad”

[Yo-Yo]

Mtn. Home AFB, my old base, and the F-111A, my old aircraft. I was there from 1978-1981, however, so that was just before Col. Searfoss was there.

(I was enlisted, performing Avionics Maintenance.)

[cyclotic]

I lived in Mt. Clemens for over 20 years. Had no idea we birthed an astronaut.

Thomas Edison worked as a telegraph operator in Mt. Clemens for several years. The train station still exists.

[cyclotic]

Just read the entire article. He was born in Mt. Clemens, but considered Portsmouth, NH his hometown. I’m guessing his father was in the Air Force and stationed at Selfridge Air Base near Mt. Clemens.

[real saxophonist]

Sonny Carter was a family friend. He flew on Discovery, and was training for another mission when he was killed in a plane crash. That crash also killed Senator John Tower.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I lived in Mt. Clemens for over 20 years. Had no idea we birthed an astronaut.

I recently learned one of the Apollo astronauts briefly lived on my street as a kid.

[rey]

No kidding. For some reason, obit pieces never carry the cause of death any more.

[Verbosus]

Wow - what an exceptional career and what a fruitful life.
RIP

[cyclotic]

That’s cool.

One of my kids decided when he was six he wanted to build rockets at NASA.

He lived his dream and works there now. He has a patch that flew in space on a shuttle mission. It’s framed with a crew photo and certificate of authenticity.

Sadly, the crew photo includes Mark Kelly. Unngghh

[redfog]

Graduated first in his class, USAFA ‘78, an extraordinary man - we’ll miss you, Rick.

[ridesthemiles]

Darryl Greenamyer, a Lockheed test pilot who helped develop the U-2 passed away last week. I do not what from nor how old he was. He also drove a ‘Top Fuel Dragster’ in drag racing & flew a racing plane.

[elcid1970]

“...increase in stomach and colon cancer in astronauts from the radiation exposure.”

The Van Allen Belts?

[nikos1121]

Here’s the article

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/02/us/nasa-study-deep-space-travel-trnd/index.html