David McDowell Brown (April 16, 1956 – February 1, 2003) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

. He died on his first

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in or ...

, 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 before the '' Columbia'' disaster. Brown was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Education

* Attended McKinley Elementary,

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

* Attended Swanson Middle,

* 1974: Graduated from Yorktown High School,

* 1978: Received bachelor of science degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

from the College of William and Mary * 1982: Received a doctorate in medicine from

Eastern Virginia Medical School Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) is a public medical school in Norfolk, Virginia. Founded by grassroots efforts in the Southeastern part of Virginia known as Hampton Roads, EVMS is not affiliated with an undergraduate institution and co ...

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

Brown, the 1986 recipient of the Navy Operational Flight Surgeon of the Year award, received numerous decorations including:

Qualification insignia

Naval Aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

* Naval Astronaut * Naval Flight Surgeon

Personal decorations

* Defense Distinguished Service Medal ^† * Meritorious Service Medal * Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal * National Defense Service Medal * Congressional Space Medal of Honor ^† *

NASA Distinguished Service Medal The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both milita ...

^† *

NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...

^† The ^† symbol indicates a posthumous award.

Military career

Brown joined the U.S. Navy after his internship at the

Medical University of South Carolina The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in South Carolina. It opened in 1824 in Charleston as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities acr ...

. Upon completion of

flight surgeon A flight surgeon is a military medical officer practicing in the clinical field of aviation medicine. Although the term "flight surgery" is considered improper by purists, it may occasionally be encountered. Flight surgeons are physicians ( MD ...

training in 1984, he reported to the Navy Branch Hospital in Adak, Alaska, as Director of Medical Services. He was then assigned to Carrier Air Wing Fifteen which deployed aboard the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

in the Western Pacific. In 1988, he became the only flight surgeon in a ten-year period to be chosen for pilot training. He was ultimately designated a

in 1990 at NAS Chase Field 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 at NAS 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/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...

and deployed from Japan in 1992 aboard flying the A-6E with VA-115. In 1995, he reported to the

U.S. Naval Test Pilot School The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland, provides instruction to experienced United States Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and foreign military experi ...

at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland 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 the first pilot in NASA T-38 aircraft. He held a Federal Communications Commission (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 The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

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. On April 21, 2001, Brown appeared on ESPN as an expert on

g-force The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...

loading on the human body that led to the cancellation of the

Firestone Firehawk 600 The Firestone Firehawk 600 was a CART series auto race scheduled for April 29, 2001 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was scheduled for 248 laps around the oval at TMS. However, it was postponed and ultimately ca ...

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

race. Brown flew aboard Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' on STS-107, logging 15 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes in space from January 16 to February 1, 2003. The 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 mission ended abruptly on February 1, 2003, when ''Columbias crew perished during entry, 16 minutes before the scheduled landing.

Personal life

As the lone unmarried member of the STS-107 crew, Brown had previously been romantically involved with NASA engineer Ann Micklos. The two ended their relationship shortly before the mission but remained close friends until his death. The crew of STS-107 had also formed a very close friendship in their training, that Brown had been preparing a videotape to commemorate once they returned from their mission. Brown is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Tributes

* Asteroid

51825 Davidbrown 51825 Davidbrown (provisional designation ) is an Eoan asteroid in the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 July 2001, by astronomers of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking program at Pal ...

was named in honor of Brown. * Lunar crater D. Brown is 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. * The Captain David Brown Aerospace and Medical Research Endowment was established in his memory to help deserving students attending Eastern Virginia Medical School. * The planetarium of Arlington Public Schools was renamed the David M. Brown Planetarium. * The Dave Brown Memorial Park in Friendswood, Texas, is named after him. * The annual Astronaut Dave Brown Memorial gymnastics meet is held at the College of William & Mary in his honor, where Dave Brown was a gymnast. * Yorktown High School Crew Team Men's Varsity 8 boat name Captain David M. Brown - c. 2003 * Circle Oil Hill Elementary of

Circle USD 375 Circle USD 375 is a public unified school district headquartered in Towanda, Kansas, United States. The district includes the communities of Towanda, Benton, Greenwich, Midian, western El Dorado, eastern Bel Aire, and nearby rural areas. Scho ...

in Kansas grants a scholarship each year - David Brown Hopes & Dreams Scholarship. This scholarship was first awarded in 2005.

References

External links

* *
David Brown STS-107 Crew MemorialCaptain David Brown Aerospace and Medical Research Endowment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, David Macdowell 1956 births 2003 deaths Space Shuttle Columbia disaster Physician astronauts United States Navy astronauts People from Arlington County, Virginia Yorktown High School (Virginia) alumni College of William & Mary alumni Eastern Virginia Medical School alumni American test pilots Aviators from Virginia Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Texas Recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Amateur radio people Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Space Shuttle program astronauts United States Naval Aviators United States Navy captains United States Navy Medical Corps officers United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni