Colonel Curtis L. Brown

Colonel Curtis L. Brown. NASA Astronaut. , Colonel Brown is a native of Elizabethtown, North Carolina. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1978., After completing pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas, he was assigned to Myrtle Beach Air Force Base as an A-10 pilot. He left Myrtle Beach in March 1982 to become an instructor pilot in the A-10 training program at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, and while there attended the United States Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Later, he graduated from the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to carry out test missions in the A-10 and F-16., In August 1987, he was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). He graduated from the NASA Astronaut Training and Evaluation Program in August 1988 and became qualified as a pilot of the space shuttle. He is a veteran of six NASA space flights, serving as pilot on the first three missions and as shuttle commander on the next three missions. Altogether, he logged over 1,383 hours in space during these missions, with his flights totaling more than 58 days in orbit., He has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal twice, the Meritorious Service Medal and the NASA Space Flight Medal six times., Colonel Brown retired from NASA and the Air Force in May 2000.