Richard Farrimond, a British engineer and astronaut, died on February 26, 2026, aged 78.
Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, on September 15, 1947, he was educated at Clifton College, studied at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and earned a BSc in telecommunications at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, in 1972. He later served as a lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Corps of Signals of the British Army.
After leaving the Army, he worked for British Aerospace and later for Matra Marconi Space. In July 1984, he was selected as the backup crew payload specialist for the planned Space Shuttle mission STS-61-H, but the flight was cancelled after the Challenger accident, and he did not fly into orbit.
Richard Alfred Farrimond (15 September 1947 – 26 February 2026) was a British engineer, army officer and astronaut.