Astronaut David Hilmers from Clinton to be inducted into U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has announced the 2024 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees and a Quad Cities native is on the list.

David Hilmers, who was born in Clinton and considers DeWitt his home, according to NASA, and Marsha Ivins will be among the 107 astronauts who have been inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex since it was created over 30 years ago.

“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 runs 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.”

There will be an official ceremony and gala on June 1 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, featuring the space shuttle Atlantis in the background. After the induction, the newest Hall of Fame members will be celebrated at a black-tie evening event hosted by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Col. David Hilmers, USMC, retired, flew on shuttle missions STS-51J, the first flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-26, the first mission launched after the 1986 after the Challenger tragedy, STS-36 and STS-42.

He was born in Clinton and considers DeWitt his hometown. He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in mathematics from Cornell College in 1972. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1971 and was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduation. He completed naval flight officer training and A-6 Intruder training in 1972. He served with all three Marine Corps aviation wings and with the Second Marine Division as a forward air controller. He attended the Naval Postgraduate School and received a Master of Science degree in electronics engineering as well as the degree of electrical engineer. When he was chosen as an astronaut in 1980, he had recently finished a tour with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

Hilmers served in a variety of roles during his 12 year career with NASA, including shuttle software testing and EVA suit development. He was also capsule communicator for six shuttle flights and served as the head of the Mission Development branch of the astronaut office.

He was a mission specialist on STS 51-J, a Department of Defense (DOD) mission and the first flight of the space shuttle Atlantis in 1985. He was a mission specialist on the return to flight crew, STS-26, after the Challenger tragedy, helping launch a TDRS communications satellite. His next mission in 1990 was another DOD flight where the crew took the shuttle to the highest inclination, 62.0 degrees of any U.S. crewed spaceflight to date.

After his third shuttle mission, Hilmers decided to follow his dream to become a physician. Unfortunately, the week of his medical school entrance exams in April 1992, astronaut Sonny Carter was killed in a plane crash. Hilmers was asked to replace Carter on STS-42, the International Microgravity Lab-1 (IML-1) mission that was scheduled to launch in nine months. He accepted the mission and began training on the 60+ experiments that were on IML-1.

Just a month before launch, Hilmers was accepted into Baylor College of Medicine. Six months after the shuttle landed in February 1992, Hilmers retired from NASA and as a Colonel in the Marine Corps and began his medical student studies. He finished medical school and his residency at Baylor College of Medicine, completing both the internal medicine and pediatrics programs and received a Master of Public Health degree.

Hilmers is currently a Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and is the Chief Medical Officer for an Australian-based NGO, Hepatitis B Free (HBF) that was founded by his wife, Dr. Alice Lee. Since 2013, the program has worked with governments and local partners to establish hepatitis treatment programs in low-income countries. His passion is volunteer medical work and disaster relief in low-resource countries and he has worked in nearly 60 countries. He has worked in areas of conflict (Iraq and Ukraine); as an early responder after typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis; in refugee camps around the world; and with epidemics such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Despite his other commitments, Hilmers remains involved with the space program. He served on the User Committee of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute throughout its existence and has been a faculty member in Baylor College’s Center for Space Medicine since its inception. He’s the Exploration Medicine technical lead for the Clinical Science Team at NASA and has helped develop tools to determine the requirements for medical expertise and resources on lunar and Martian space missions.

The Hilmers live in Sidney, Australia, where Alice works as a gastroenterologist. He volunteers in the Asia-Pacific region and returns periodically to Houston for teaching and clinical work at Baylor. David and Alice have two sons; Matthew is a manager in Houston and Daniel is a pastor in Warsaw, Poland.

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