Danville, IL (CHAMBANA TODAY) – Danville native and Astronaut Joe Tanner will be inducted into NASA’s U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 16 alongside friend and colleague, Tom Akers at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. They will join the distinguished group of American space pioneers whose careers helped shape the Space Shuttle program, International Space Station assembly and some of NASA’s most complex and historic missions.
“The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame welcomes two distinguished astronauts whose careers exemplify excellence, leadership, and service to human spaceflight,” said Curt Brown, former crewmate on Tanner’s first shuttle in 1994 and now chairman of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. “Joe Tanner and Tom Akers made lasting contributions to NASA and the advancement of our nation’s space program, and both have continued to extend their impact beyond NASA as educators and mentors. Their dedication and commitment reflect the very best of the astronaut corps, and we are honored to induct them into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.”
Tanner, whose parents, Dr. L.W. “Bill” Tanner and Dr. Megan Tanner were both long-time physicians in Danville. His father Bill, taught Joe how the fly at the Vermilion County Airport in Danville, where he honed his love of flying and space. He’s a 1968 graduate of Danville High School, and a 1973 mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign. He then joined the Navy and pursued his passion for flying, where he earned his Naval Aviator Wings in 1975.
Tanner will come back to Danville and take part in the 200th celebration of Vermilion County later this year.
Flying high-performance jets fueled his long time interest in human spaceflight, leading him to join NASA in 1984 as a research pilot and flight instructor at Johnson Space Center. While he has logged more than 9,000 flight hours in a variety of aircraft, one of his favorites will always be the Shuttle Training Aircraft in which he taught astronaut pilots how to land the Space Shuttle. After eight years supporting NASA missions, he was selected as a member of NASA’s 1992 astronaut class, Group14.
Over the course of his career, Joe has performed seven spacewalks, totaling more than 46 hours and logged 1,069 hours in space. Between flights, he performed two tours, supporting crew activities, launches, and landings at the Kennedy Space Center. He also served as the EVA Branch Chief and worked on several special projects to include the Altair Lunar Lander. When not in training for his own flights, he supported nearly every Shuttle mission as an Office representative to the Mission Management Team and was a member of several problem resolution teams, especially if an EVA was required.
In the 16 years of his astronaut career, Joe also flew four Space Shuttle missions. His first f, ATLAS-3, STS-66 (Atlantis), he studied Earth’s atmosphere and the ozone layer. His second mission, STS-82 (Discovery) was the second servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, during which he performed two separate spacewalks to upgrade and repair critical components. His final two missions, arrays currently powering the station.
Once he retired from NASA, Joe chose to give back to future generations as a Teaching Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He taught a two-semester engineering projects course to Master’s and PhD students for eight years and served as a team advisor and grader in the senior design capstone course for three of those years. He found great fulfilment teaching and mentoring students who will be our future leaders. Joe is now fully retired and enjoys mountain living with his wife near Ridgway, Colorado. He also enjoys hiking, climbing, skiing, building projects, working on old cars and helping friends and neighbors.
Over the years, Joe has delightfully made trips back home to Danville to speak to various students of all ages and has given different presentations.
Lastly, Joe’s current passion is supporting the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation as an award presenter and member of the scholar selection committee. He volunteered to be a mentor as soon as the current program was established and has been immensely rewarded to serve ASF scholars in that capacity for over 10 years. He works closely with a non-profit in Telluride that focuses on encouraging students in southwest Colorado to pursue education and careers in STEM fields.
