David Brown | |
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![]() Brown in September 2001 | |
Born | David McDowell Brown April 16, 1956 Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |
Died | February 1, 2003 Over Texas, U.S. | (aged 46)
Cause of death | Space Shuttle Columbia disaster |
Education | College of William and Mary (BS) Eastern Virginia Medical School (MD) |
Awards | |
Space career | |
NASA astronaut | |
Rank | Captain, USN |
Time in space | 15d 22h 20m |
Selection | NASA Group 16 (1996) |
Missions | STS-107 |
Mission insignia | ![]() |
David McDowell Brown (April 16, 1956 – February 1, 2003) was a United States Navy captain and NASA astronaut. He died on his first spaceflight, 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. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.[1]