Laurel Blair Salton Clark

Laurel Blair Salton Clark (March 10, 1961 – February 1, 2003) was a medical doctor, United States Navy Captain, NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle mission specialist who was lost in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Early life
Clark was born in Ames, Iowa, but considered Racine, Wisconsin to be her hometown. She is survived by her husband, Jon, and son Iain. Clark enjoyed scuba diving, hiking, camping, biking, parachuting, flying, and traveling. Clark was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority.

She held an FCC issued Technician Class Amateur Radio license with the call sign KC5ZSU.

Education

 * 1979: Graduated from William Horlick High School, Racine, Wisconsin
 * 1983: Received bachelor of science degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
 * 1987: Received doctorate in medicine from the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Organizations

 * Aerospace Medical Association, Society of U.S. Naval Flight Surgeons.

Awards

 * Navy Commendation Medals (3)
 * National Defense Medal
 * Overseas Service Ribbon


 * Posthumously awarded:
 * the NASA Space Flight Medal
 * the NASA Distinguished Service Medal
 * the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (DDSM)
 * the Congressional Space Medal of Honor
 * the Purple Heart medal from the U.S. Navy

Tributes

 * Asteroid 51827 Laurelclark was named for Clark.
 * Clark Hill in the Columbia Hills on Mars was named for Clark
 * Clark Hall, in the Columbia Village apartments, at the Florida Institute of Technology is named after her.
 * Dr. Laurel Salton Clark Memorial Fountain, in Racine, WI
 * Laurel B. Clark and David M. Brown Aerospace Medicine Academic Center, located at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute

Military career
During medical school she did active duty training with the Diving Medicine Department at the Naval Experimental Diving Unit in March 1987. After completing medical school, Clark underwent postgraduate medical education in pediatrics from 1987 to 1988 at the National Naval Medical Center. The following year she completed Navy undersea medical officer training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute in Groton, Connecticut and diving medical officer training at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida. Clark was designated a Radiation Health Officer and Undersea Medical Officer. She was then assigned as the Submarine Squadron Fourteen Medical Department Head in Holy Loch, Scotland. During that assignment she dove with Navy divers and Naval Special Warfare Unit Two SEALs and performed many medical evacuations from US submarines. After two years of operational experience she was designated as a Naval Submarine Medical Officer and Diving Medical Officer.

Clark underwent six months of aeromedical training at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida and was designated as a Naval Flight Surgeon. She was stationed at MCAS Yuma, Arizona and assigned as Flight Surgeon for a Marine Corps AV-8B Night Attack Harrier Squadron (VMA 211). She made several deployments, including one overseas to the Western Pacific, practiced medicine in austere environments, and flew on multiple aircraft. Her squadron won the Marine Attack Squadron of the year for its successful deployment. She was then assigned as the Group Flight Surgeon for the Marine Aircraft Group (MAG 13).

Before her selection as an astronaut candidate she served as a Flight Surgeon for the Naval Flight Officer advanced training squadron (VT-86) in Pensacola, Florida. Clark was Board Certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners and held a Wisconsin Medical License. Her military qualifications included Radiation Health Officer, Undersea Medical Officer, Diving Medical Officer, Submarine Medical Officer, and Naval Flight Surgeon. She was a Basic Life Support Instructor, Advanced Cardiac Life Support Provider, Advanced Trauma Life Support Provider, and Hyperbaric Chamber Advisor.

NASA career
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Clark reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. After completing two years of training and evaluation, she was qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. From July 1997 to August 2000 Clark worked in the Astronaut Office Payloads/Habitability Branch. Clark flew aboard STS-107, logging 15 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes in space.

Space flight experience
STS-107 Columbia – The 16-day flight was a dedicated science and research mission. Working 24 hours a day, in two alternating shifts, the crew successfully conducted approximately 80 experiments. Clark's bioscience experiments included gardening in space, as she discussed only days before her death in an interview with Milwaukee media near her Wisconsin hometown. The STS-107 mission ended abruptly on February 1, 2003, when Columbia and her crew perished during entry, 16 minutes before scheduled landing. According to an on-board videotape, recorded minutes before the disaster and recovered in the debris, just before her death Clark participated in what may well be the most poignant conversation in the history of spaceflight. As re-entry began, Mission Control asked her to perform some small task. She replied that she was currently occupied but would get to it in a minute.

Clark's final message to her friends and family was through an email sent from Columbia.

Quote
Life continues in lots of places -- and life is a magical thing.
 * Laurel Clark, in reference to her rose bushes.