http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-022924a-astronaut-richard-truly-nasa-adminstrator-obituary.html

Richard Truly, shuttle astronaut and NASA administrator, dies at 86

February 29, 2024 — Richard "Dick" Truly, who was one of the first
astronauts to fly on the space shuttle and later led NASA as its
eighth administrator, has died at the age of 86.

Truly's death on Tuesday (Feb. 27) was confirmed by the Association of
Space Explorers, a professional organization for the world's
astronauts and cosmonauts, which counted Truly as a life member.

"In his decades of service — to the Navy, to NASA, to his country —
Richard lifted ever higher humanity's quest to know the unknown and to
achieve the impossible dream," said Bill Nelson, NASA's current
administrator, in a statement released on Thursday (Feb. 29). "He was
a personal friend and a mentor to so many of us."

A naval aviator, Truly was among the first candidates chosen for the
U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), but when that
program was canceled in 1969, he joined six fellow MOL trainees to
form NASA's seventh group of astronauts. They were the last class to
be chosen during the Apollo program.

"I never filled out an application [to join NASA]," said Truly in a
2003 NASA oral history, adding that he never applied to be part of the
MOL program; the first class was assigned rather than selected. "So
I'm the only person who has ever flown in space that never applied."

Truly's first spaceflight was as the pilot on STS-2, the second flight
of the Space Transportation System in 1981, but first he was one of
only four astronauts to test landing the winged orbiter as part of the
Approach and Landing Test program carried out using the prototype
shuttle "Enterprise."

Paired with his future STS-2 commander Joe Engle, Truly flew one
"captive" flight with Enterprise remaining attached to the top of the
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and two "free" flights, separating at
altitude from the modified 747 jetliner to then touch down at Edwards
Air Force Base in southern California.

On Nov. 12, 1981, Engle and Truly lifted off aboard the space shuttle
Columbia, becoming only the second crew to test the spacecraft in
Earth orbit. The mission proved that the space shuttle was reusable.
It was also the first to test "fly" the Canadarm remote manipulator
system, or robotic arm.

"As soon as we lifted off, I didn't think they had screwed all of the
things down. I never heard such a rattling in all my life," said Truly
at a 2016 gala celebrating the 35th anniversaries of the first two
space shuttle missions.

Truly and Engle also carried out several science experiments, tested
the shuttle's orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines, spoke with
President Ronald Reagan and were awakened by the Muppets ("Pigs in
Space"), all before having to cut the planned five-day mission short
due to a failed fuel cell.

On Nov. 14, Engle and Truly landed at Edwards, two days and six hours
after they launched.

"We flew almost exactly the same duration on board STS-2 as STS-1,"
said Truly. "But we had five days of potatoes to put in a 2.5-day
sack. I went through the flight plan after the mission and I figured
that we got maybe two, two-and-and-half hours' sleep."

Truly returned to space a year and a half later as the commander of
space shuttle Challenger and the STS-8 crew. Flying with pilot Dan
Brandenstein and mission specialists Dale Gardner, Bill Thornton and
Guy Bluford — the latter the first African American to fly into space,
Truly and his four crewmates were also the first shuttle astronauts to
launch and land at night.

The crew deployed a multi-purpose weather and communications satellite
for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and gained more
practice using the Canadarm by working with a payload flight test
article. They astronauts were joined aboard Challenger by six rats,
which were testing a cage needed for future experiments, and by more
than 260,000 stamped envelopes that were later sold to the public.

Truly landed Challenger at Edwards on Sept. 5, 1983, marking the end
of his career in space after circling Earth 135 times over the course
of two missions and eight days, seven hours and 21 minutes off the
planet.

Richard Harrison "Dick" Truly was born in Fayette, Mississippi on Nov.
12, 1937, 44 years to the day before his first launch. He received a
bachelor degree in aeronautical engineering from the Georgia Institute
of Technology in 1959, and then entered the U.S. Navy.

Truly was designated a naval aviator a year later and flew F-8
Crusaders aboard the USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise, ultimately
making more than 300 carrier landings as a member of Fighter Squadron
33 (VF-33). He was serving as an instructor at the U.S. Air Force
Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base when he was
recruited for the MOL program.

Truly's first assignment at NASA was as a member of the astronaut
support crew and capsule communicator (capcom) in mission control for
the three Skylab orbital workshop missions and the joint U.S. and
Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. After flying Enterprise in the ALT
program, he served as backup to STS-1 pilot Bob Crippen.

After landing from STS-8, Truly left NASA to become the first
commander of Naval Space Command. He returned to the space agency,
though, in the wake of the loss of the space shuttle Challenger in
1986. As associate administrator for space flight, Truly led the
effort to recover from the tragedy and return the shuttle to flight
after an almost three-year hiatus.

Truly retired from the Navy as a vice admiral shortly before being
appointed NASA administrator in 1989. As chief, Truly focused on
extending the life of the space shuttle and establishing the
International Space Station, large-scale projects that may have led
Vice President Dan Quayle's decision to fire Truly on Feb. 12, 1992.

After separating from NASA for a second time, Truly went on to become
vice president and director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute at
his alma mater, the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1987, he was
named the director of the Department of Energy's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory and as the executive vice president of MRIGlobal
(formerly the Midwest Research Institute).

Truly later served on the board of visitors to the U.S. Naval Academy,
the defense policy board and the Army science board. He was a trustee
of Regis University and the Colorado School of Mines and a member of
the National Academy of Engineering. He was a director of Tetra Tech,
Edenspace Systems Corporation, Suntricity Cells and Xcel Energy.

For his service to the United States' efforts in space Truly was
awarded two NASA distinguished service medals, the NASA outstanding
leadership medal, two NASA exceptional service medals and two NASA
space flight medals. He was also bestowed with the Robert J. Collier
Trophy (twice, in 1982 and 1989), the Robert H. Goddard Memorial
Trophy (twice, 1982 and 1989) and Society of Experimental Test Pilot's
Ivan C. Kincheloe Award in 1978, among numerous other civilian and
military honors.

In 1995, he was inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. In
2001, he was enshrined in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

In 2007, Truly donated his personal archives to Regis University,
where they are held as part of the Richard H. Truly U.S. Space Program
Collection.

In 2022, Truly was portrayed by actor John Hartmann in the third
season of the alternate space history series "For All Mankind."

Truly was married to Colleen "Cody" Hanner of Milledgeville, Georgia
and they had two sons, Richard Michael and Daniel Bennett; a daughter,
Margaret Lee; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.