David McDowell Brown (April 16, 1956 – February 1, 2003) was a United States
Naval Captain and a NASA astronaut. He was killed on his first space flight, when the Space Shuttle
Columbia (STS-107) disintegrated during
orbital reentry into the Earth's
atmosphere. Brown became an astronaut in 1996, but had not served on a space mission prior
to the Columbia disaster.
Education
Organizations
- Active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank,
Life Scout.
- Past President, International Association of Military Flight Surgeon Pilots
- Associate Fellow, Aerospace Medical Association
- Society of U.S. Naval Flight Surgeons.
Awards and honors
Posthumously awarded the:
Military career
Brown joined the Navy after his internship at the Medical University of
South Carolina. Upon completion of flight surgeon training in 1984, he reported to the Navy Branch Hospital in
Adak, Alaska, as Director of Medical Services. He was then assigned to Carrier Airwing
Fifteen which deployed aboard the USS Carl Vinson in the western
Pacific. In 1988, he was the only flight surgeon in a ten year period to be chosen for pilot
training. He was ultimately designated a naval aviator in 1990 in Beeville, Texas, ranking number one in his class. Brown was then sent for training and carrier
qualification in the A-6E Intruder. In 1991 he reported to
the Naval Strike Warfare Center in Fallon, Nevada, where he served as a Strike Leader
Attack Training Syllabus Instructor and a Contingency Cell Planning Officer. Additionally, he was qualified in the
F-18 Hornet and deployed from Japan in 1992 aboard the USS Independence flying the
A-6E with VA-115. In 1995,
he reported to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School as their flight surgeon where he also flew the T-38
Talon.
Brown logged over 2,700 flight hours with 1,700 in high performance military aircraft. He was qualified as first pilot in NASA
T-38 aircraft.
He held an FCC issued Technician Class Amateur Radio license with the call sign KC5ZTC.
NASA career
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Brown reported to the Johnson Space
Center in August 1996. He completed two years of training and evaluation, and was qualified for flight assignment as a
mission specialist. He was initially assigned to support payload development for the International Space Station, followed by the astronaut support team responsible for orbiter
cockpit setup, crew strap-in, and landing recovery. Brown flew aboard STS-107, logging 15 days,
22 hours, and 20 minutes in space.
Space flight experience
STS-107 Columbia (January 16 to February 1, 2003). The 16-day flight was a dedicated science and research
mission. Working 24 hours a day, in two alternating shifts, the crew successfully conducted approximately 80 experiments. The
STS-107 mission ended abruptly on February 1, 2003 when
Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew perished during entry, 16 minutes before
scheduled landing.
Tributes
- Asteroid 51825 Davidbrown was named after
Brown
- Brown Hall, in the Columbia Village apartments, at the Florida Institute of
Technology is named after him.
- He is the first person ever to be posthumously awarded the William & Mary Alumni Association's Alumni Medal.
- The Laurel B. Clark and David M. Brown Aerospace Medicine Academic Center, located at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute,
is named after him.
External links
See also
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