Curtis Lee "Curt" Brown Jr. (born March 11, 1956) is a former

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, succeedi ...

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 ...

and retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Background

Colonel Brown was born March 11, 1956. He graduated from East Bladen High School in

Elizabethtown, North Carolina Elizabethtown is a town in Bladen County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,583 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bladen County. History Some hold Elizabethtown is named for Elizabeth, the wife of George Carteret, ...

in 1974 and received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in electrical engineering from the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Un ...

in 1978. He is a member of the United States

Air Force Association The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit, professional military association for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, its declared mission is "t ...

, the United States Air Force Academy Association of Graduates, and the

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

Military service

He was commissioned a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

at the

in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1978, and completed

Undergraduate Pilot Training Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was established 1 July 1993, with the realignment of Air Training ...

Laughlin Air Force Base Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located east of Del Rio, Texas. Overview Laughlin AFB, the largest pilot training base in the US Air Force, is home to the 47th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education an ...

Del Rio, Texas Del Rio is a city and the county seat of Val Verde County in southwestern Texas, United States. The city is 152 miles west of San Antonio. As of 2020, Del Rio had a population of 34,673. History The Spanish established a small settlement south o ...

. He graduated in July 1979 and was assigned to fly

A-10 The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

aircraft at

Myrtle Beach Air Force Base Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Early history On 16 October 1939, Myrtle Beach Town Council resolved that the community "is in dire need of a modern municipal airport". The ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

, arriving there in January 1980 after completing A-10 training at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

. In March 1982, he was reassigned to Davis-Monthan AFB as an instructor pilot in the A-10. In January 1983, he attended

USAF Fighter Weapons School The USAF Weapons School is a unit of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, assigned to the 57th Wing The 57th Wing (57 WG) is an operational unit of the United States Air Force (USAF) Warfare Center, stationed at ...

Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

and returned to Davis-Monthan AFB as an instructor in A-10 weapons and tactics. In June 1985, he attended USAF Test Pilot School at

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. Upon graduation in June 1986, Brown was assigned to

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, where he served as a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

in the

and

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

aircraft until his selection for the astronaut program. He has logged over 6,000 hours flight time in jet aircraft.

NASA

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in June 1987, Brown completed a one-year training and evaluation program in August 1988, and is qualified for flight assignment as a pilot. Technical assignments have included: involvement in the upgrade of the Shuttle Mission Simulator (SMS), development of the Flight Data File (FDF), lead of the astronaut launch support team responsible for crew ingress/strap-in prior to launch and crew egress after landing; monitored the refurbishment of OV-102 and

OV-103 Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to S ...

during ground turnaround processing; lead spacecraft communicator (

CAPCOM is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...

), Astronaut Office Lead of Shuttle Operations, and Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations Directorate.

Space flights

A veteran of six space flights, Brown has logged over 1,383 hours in space. He was the pilot on

STS-47 STS-47 was the 50th NASA Space Shuttle mission of the program, as well as the second mission of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. The mission mainly involved conducting experiments in life and material sciences inside Spacelab-J, a collaborat ...

in 1992,

STS-66 STS-66 was a Space Shuttle program mission that was flown by the Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. STS-66 launched on 3 November 1994 at 11:59:43.060 am EDT from Launch Pad 39-B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. ''Atlantis'' landed at Edwards Air Force ...

in 1994 and

STS-77 STS-77 was the 77th Space Shuttle mission and the 11th mission of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. The mission began from launch pad 39B from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 19 May 1996 lasting 10 days and 40 minutes and completing 161 revolut ...

in 1996, and was spacecraft commander on

STS-85 STS-85 was a Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' mission to perform multiple space science packages. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 7 August 1997. A major experiment was the CRISTA-SPAS free-flyer which had various telescopes on ...

in 1997,

STS-95 STS-95 was a Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 29 October 1998, using the orbiter ''Discovery''. It was the 25th flight of ''Discovery'' and the 92nd mission flown since the start of the Space Shuttle progra ...

in 1998, and STS-103 in 1999.

STS-47

Brown's first spaceflight was

aboard the . The mission launched September 12, 1992 14:23 (UTC) and was an eight-day cooperative mission between the United States and Japan focused on

life science Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

and

materials processing In engineering, a process is a series of interrelated tasks that, together, transform inputs into a given output. These tasks may be carried out by people, nature or machines using various resources; an engineering process must be considered in t ...

experiments in space. After completing 126 orbits of Earth, the mission ended with the ''Endeavour'' landing at the

Shuttle Landing Facility The Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) also known as Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) is an airport located on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Kennedy Space Center and was used by Space Shuttle for l ...

in Florida, September 20, 1992 12:53 (UTC). Mission duration was 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds.

STS-66

For Brown's second spaceflight,

, he piloted the . The mission lifted off from Launch Complex 39B November 3, 1994 16:59 (UTC). was the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science 3 (ATLAS-3) mission. ATLAS-3 was part of an ongoing program to determine the Earth's energy balance and

atmospheric An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

change over an 11-year solar cycle. Following 175 orbits of the Earth, the 11-day mission ended with the ''Atlantis'' landing at

, California, November 14, 1994 15:34 (UTC). Mission duration was 262 hours and 34 minutes.

STS-77

Brown served as pilot for the third time during

aboard the . Lift-off of the ten-day mission occurred May 19, 1996 10:30 (UTC). The crew performed a record number of rendezvous sequences (one with a SPARTAN satellite and three with a deployed Satellite Test Unit) and approximately 21 hours of

formation flying Formation flying is the flight of multiple objects in coordination. Introduction Formation flight in aviation originated in World War I when fighter aircraft were assigned to escort reconnaissance aircraft. It was found that pairs of aircraft ...

in proximity of the satellites. During the flight the crew also conducted 12

fluid dynamics In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including '' aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) ...

, and

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

experiments in a

Spacehab Astrotech Corporation, formerly Spacehab Inc., is a technology incubator headquartered in Austin, Texas, Austin, Texas. Astrotech uses technology sourced internally and from research institutions, government laboratories, and universities to fun ...

Module. STS-77 deployed and retrieved a SPARTAN satellite, which carried the Inflatable Antenna Experiment designed to test the concept of large, inflatable space structures. A small Satellite Test Unit was also deployed to test the concept of self-stabilization by using

aerodynamic Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

forces and

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...

damping. The mission was concluded in 160 Earth orbits, with a landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility May 29, 1996 11:10 (UTC) after traveling 4.1 million miles in 240 hours and 39 minutes.

STS-85

Brown's first command and fourth spaceflight was

aboard the . The shuttle lifted off from

Launch Complex 39A Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is the first of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39B, were first designed for the Saturn V launch vehicle. T ...

August 7, 1997 14:41 (UTC) on a 12-day mission during which the crew deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS payload, operated the Japanese Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) robotic arm, studied changes in the Earth's atmosphere and tested technology destined for use on the future

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

. The mission was accomplished in 189 Earth orbits, and concluded with a landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility August 19, 1997 11:08 (UTC) after traveling 4.7 million miles in 284 hours and 27 minutes.

STS-95

Brown flew in space for the fifth time during

as commander aboard the . Lifting off from Launch Complex 39B October 29, 1998 19:19 (UTC),

was a 9-day mission during which the crew supported a variety of research payloads including deployment of the Spartan solar-observing spacecraft, the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ver ...

Orbital Systems Test Platform, and investigations on space flight and the aging process. The mission was accomplished in 134 Earth orbits, touching down at the Shuttle Landing Facility November 7, 1998 17:04 (UTC) after traveling 3.6 million miles in 213 hours and 44 minutes. The mission was highly publicized for the return of 77-year-old Senator John Glenn's return to space after 38 years. This flight made Brown the only astronaut besides Tom Stafford to have commanded a member of the Mercury 7 on a mission.

STS-103

Brown's sixth and final spaceflight was STS-103 as commander aboard the . Lifting off from Launch Complex 39A December 20, 1999 00:50 (UTC), STS-103 was an 8-day mission during which the crew successfully installed new instruments and upgraded systems on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Enhancing HST scientific capabilities required three space walks. The STS-103 mission was accomplished in 120 Earth orbits, touching down at the Shuttle Landing Facility December 28, 1999 00:01 (UTC) after traveling 3.2 million miles in 191 hours and 11 minutes.

Post-NASA career

Brown left NASA in May 2000 and became an airline pilot for

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passenge ...

and later Sun Country Airlines. He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in April 2013. He is currently the chairman of the board of the directors of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Awards and decorations

Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purpl ...

(2x) * Air Force Meritorious Service Medal *

Air Force Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

Air Force Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to rece ...

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 ...

(6x)

References

External links

*
Spacefacts biography of Curtis Brown
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Curtis 1956 births Living people American test pilots Aviators from North Carolina People from Elizabethtown, North Carolina Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force astronauts United States Air Force officers U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees Space Shuttle program astronauts