Editing Laurel Clark (section)

==NASA career==
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Clark reported to the [[Johnson Space Center]] in [[Houston, Texas]], in August 1996.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2003-02-04 |title=Astronaut Clark: 'Life is a magical thing' |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/01/sprj.colu.profile.clark/index.html |access-date=2017-10-27 |work=CNN}}</ref> 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. She flew aboard [[STS-107]], logging 15 days, 22 hours and 21 minutes in space.<ref name="NASAbio">{{cite web |date=May 2004 |title=Astronaut Bio: Laurel Blair Salton Clark |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/clark_laurel.pdf |access-date=January 12, 2021 |website=NASA}}{{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/clark_laurel.htm|title=Astronaut Biography: Laurel Clark|first=Joachim|last=Becker}}</ref>

===Space flight experience===
[[image:LaurelClarkSTS107.jpg|250px|Laurel Clark during STS-107|thumb]]
[[File:STS-107 Laurel Clark.jpg|250px|Laurel Clark looks through an overhead window on the aft flight deck of the Shuttle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/19468-shuttle-columbia-final-flight-sts107-small-miracles.html|title=Columbia's Astronauts Find Small Miracles of Life and Light|website=[[Space.com]] |date=29 January 2013 }}</ref>|thumb]]
{{Main|STS-107}}
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'' disintegrated and her crew perished during re-entry, 16 minutes before scheduled landing.

Clark also recorded inside the cockpit during ''Columbia''{{'}}s descent into the Earth's atmosphere on a small digital camera.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue2/2003/03/01/168023-columbia-crew-cheerful-on-tape-before-disaster/|title=Columbia crew cheerful on tape before disaster - Tucson Citizen Morgue, Part 2 (1993-2009)}}</ref>

Clark's final message to her friends and family was through an email sent from ''Columbia''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-107/memorial/clark.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041106133303/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-107/memorial/clark.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2004-11-06|title=HSF - STS-107 Memorial - Laurel Clark}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070313102022/http://racine.wi.net/clarkletter.html Letter Home from Space] January 31, 2003.</ref> In the released text of the email, Clark called the planet magnificent, and explained that while she spends much of the time working back in Spacehab and away from the sights of Earth, "whenever I do get to look out, it is glorious." Clark found that taking photos of the Earth was challenging, "Keeping my fingers crossed that they're in sharp focus." Clark also shared some of the intriguing effects of micro gravity on human physiology, such as constant challenge to stay adequately hydrated due to an "almost non-existent" sense of thirst.<ref>{{cite news |date=2003-02-03 |title=Astronaut's touching mail |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2722465.stm |access-date=2017-08-24 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC}}</ref>