John Yardley was a leading figure in the early days of human spaceflight and the Space Shuttle program. Yardley served as Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, a post in which he led the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and Spacelab, and was responsible for development and acquisition of the Space Shuttle. In 1981, he returned to private industry following the first successful Space Shuttle mission to serve as president of the former McDonnell Douglas Astronautics. He was awarded NASA's Public Service Medal for his outstanding contributions to the Mercury and Gemini Programs in 1963 and 1966.