[Space.com] Rick Searfoss, a former NASA astronaut who launched on three space shuttle missions before serving as a test pilot for a commercial rocket plane, has died. He was 62.Searfoss died on Sunday, Sept. 29, at his home in Bear Valley Springs, California, according to the Tehachapi News on Friday (Oct. 5). The cause of death was not reported.
The Association of Space Explorers, which counted Searfoss among its members, posted a memorial to its Facebook page on Monday evening.
An aspiring astronaut since his youth, Searfoss was serving as a flight instructor at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California when he was chosen with NASA's 13th group of candidates, nicknamed "The Hairballs."
"I received a life-changing phone call in January 1990 when Don Puddy, Johnson Space Center Flight Crew Operations Director, came on the line and asked, in his smooth bass voice and Texas accent, 'Rick, how'd you like to come on down to JSC and work for me in the Astronaut Office?'" wrote Searfoss in "Liftoff: An Astronaut Commander's Countdown For Purpose Powered Leadership," his 2016 motivational book. "My immediate response: 'I'll be there tomorrow if you want!'"