A Wisconsin native who once dreamed of space while watching Alan Shepard’s first flight on a black-and-white TV is now being honored for his own career among the stars. According to the Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bicycle Museum, Astronaut Mark Lee of Viroqua will be inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 18th, during a ceremony at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh. Lee flew four space shuttle missions between 1989 and 1997, logging more than 33 days in orbit, circling the Earth over 500 times, and performing multiple spacewalks—including critical repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope. He also helped develop the SAFER jetpack, later used in building the International Space Station. After retiring from NASA and the Air Force, Lee dedicated himself to environmental work—planting more than 140,000 trees in Wisconsin—and inspiring future generations, speaking to hundreds of thousands of students about space and exploration.
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