Joe Tanner was inducted into NASA’s U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on Saturday at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Tonya Salomon/Central Ilinois Multimedia Group
University of Illinois graduate Joe Tanner (center) was made to feel at home during Saturday’s U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame ceremony at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Tonya Salomon/Central Ilinois Multimedia Group
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Danville native and University of Illinois graduate Joe Tanner was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Tanner, 75, was one of two former astronauts, along with Tom Akers, who were honored at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Congratulations to Danville native and
@UofIllinois
graduate Joe Tanner on his induction into @NASA Astronaut
Hall of Fame today.
Via @VCFirst’s
Tonya Salomon pic.twitter.com/uffi7uPqMq
— The News-Gazette (@news_gazette)
May 16, 2026
Among those in attendance: fellow UI graduate and Astronaut Hall of Famer Scott Altman.
Tanner, who lives in Colorado and returns a couple times a year to the family property north of Danville, will be returning to speak and meet residents at a Vermilion County 200th anniversary weekend event in August.
In January, the Navy veteran who logged 1,079 hours in space joined News-Gazette Radio. Listen to the podcast here.
Those in attendance included Scott Altman, another Hall of Famer who graduated from the University of Illinois.
Tonya Salomon/Central Ilinois Multimedia Group