What is William E. Thornton?
[[File:WilliamThornton.jpg|right|200px]] '''William Edgar Thornton (M.D.)''' (April 14, 1929 &ndash; January 11, 2021) was an American [[NASA]] [[astronaut]]. He was born in [[Faison, North Carolina|Faison]], [[North Carolina]]. Thornton was a member of the astronaut support crew for the [[Skylab 2]], [[Skylab 3|3]], and [[Skylab 4|4]] missions. A veteran of two space flights, Thornton spent over 313 hours in space. He was a mission specialist on [[STS-8]] in 1983, and [[STS-51B]] in 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/thornton-w.html|title=William Thornton NASA Biography|publisher=NASA|access-date=December 27, 2017|date=May 1994}}</ref> Thornton died on January 11, 2021 in [[Boerne, Texas]] at the age of 91.<ref>[http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-011421a-astronaut-william-thornton-obituary.html Astronaut William Thornton, who invented shuttle treadmill, dies at 91]</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, William E.}} [[Category:1929 births]] [[Category:2021 deaths]] [[Category:American astronauts]] [[Category:Scientists from North Carolina]] {{US-bio-stub}}