David M. Brown
David McDowell Brown (April 16, 1956 – February 1, 2003) was a United States Navy captain and a 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. Brown was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Brown, the 1986 recipient of the Navy Operational Flight Surgeon of the Year award, received numerous decorations including:
The symbol indicates a posthumous award.
Space Shuttle orbiter
"Columbia" was the first space-worthy orbiter, and made its inaugural flight in 1981. "Challenger", "Discovery", and "Atlantis" followed in 1983, 1984 and 1985 respectively. In 1986, "Challenger" was destroyed in an accident shortly after launch. "Endeavour" was built as "Challenger"s replacement, and was first launched in 1992. In 2003, "Columbia" was destroyed during re-entry, leaving just three remaining orbiters. "Discovery" completed its final flight on March 9, 2011, and "Endeavour" completed its final flight on June 1, 2011. "Atlantis" completed the last ever Shuttle flight, STS-135, on July 21, 2011.