Editing Laurel Clark

{{Short description|American astronaut (1961–2003)}}
{{Infobox astronaut
|name          = Laurel Clark
|image         = Laurel Clark, NASA photo portrait in blue suit.jpg{{!}}border
|birth_name    = Laurel Blair Salton
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1961|3|10}}
|birth_place   = [[Ames, Iowa]], U.S.
|death_date    = {{death date and age|2003|2|1|1961|3|10}}
|death_place   = Over [[Texas]], U.S.
|death_cause   = [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster]]
|education     = [[University of Wisconsin, Madison]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]], [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]])
|awards        = {{ubl|[[Congressional Space Medal of Honor]]|[[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]]}}
|type          = [[NASA astronaut]]
|rank          = [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]], [[United States Navy|USN]]
|time          = 15d 22h 20m
|selection     = [[NASA Astronaut Group 16|NASA Group 16 (1996)]]
|mission       = [[STS-107]]
|insignia      = [[File:STS-107 Flight Insignia.svg|40px]]
}}
'''Laurel Blair Clark''' (née '''Salton'''; March 10, 1961 – February 1, 2003) was an American [[NASA]] astronaut, medical doctor, [[United States Navy]] [[captain (U.S. Navy)|captain]], and [[Space Shuttle]] mission specialist. She died along with her six fellow crew members in the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster]]. Clark was posthumously awarded the [[Congressional Space Medal of Honor]].

==Early and personal life==
Clark was born in [[Ames, Iowa]], but considered [[Racine, Wisconsin]], her hometown. Clark was a member of the [[Gamma Phi Beta]] sorority at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] and held a [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) issued Technician Class [[amateur radio license]] with the [[call sign]] KC5ZSU.

Clark is survived by her husband fellow former U.S. Navy captain and NASA flight surgeon Dr. Jonathan Clark (who was part of an official NASA panel that prepared the final 400-page report about the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster]]), and son Iain who was born in 1996.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://journaltimes.com/news/local/sc-johnson-donation-to-return-laurel-clark-fountain-to-public/article_625c73b8-796a-11df-8783-001cc4c002e0.html|title=SC Johnson donation to return Laurel Clark fountain to public use|last=Burke|first=Michael|work=Journal Times|access-date=2017-10-27|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Lost Astronaut's Husband Not Giving Up On Space |url=http://www.wisn.com/news/15197921/detail.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517001918/http://www.wisn.com/news/15197921/detail.html |archive-date=2008-05-17 |access-date= |work=WISN Milwaukee}}</ref>

==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==
Clark was a member of the [[Aerospace Medical Association]] and the Society of U.S. Naval Flight Surgeons. She was also a member of the Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church in Racine, Wisconsin.<ref>{{cite web |date=2003-02-12 |title=Unitarian Universalist Astronaut Laurel Clark Remembered with Flowers, Bagpipes, and Warm Recollections |url=http://archive.uua.org/news/2003/030214.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716064912/http://archive.uua.org/news/2003/030214.html |archive-date=2011-07-16 |access-date=2010-05-03}}</ref>

==Military career==
During medical school, Clark did active duty training with the Diving Medicine Department at the [[United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit]] in March 1987. After completing medical school, she underwent postgraduate medical education in pediatrics from 1987 to 1988 at the [[National Naval Medical Center]]. The following year, Clark 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]]. She was designated a Radiation Health Officer and Undersea Medical Officer. Clark was then assigned as the [[Submarine Squadron 14]] Medical Department Head in [[Holy Loch]], Scotland. During that assignment, she dove with Navy divers and [[United States Navy SEALs|Naval Special Warfare Unit Two SEALs]] and performed many medical evacuations from US submarines. After two years of operational experience, Clark was designated as a Naval Submarine Medical Officer and Diving Medical Officer.<ref name="NASAbio"/>

Clark underwent six months of aeromedical training at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute at [[NAS Pensacola]] in [[Pensacola, Florida]], and was designated as a Naval Flight Surgeon. She was stationed at [[MCAS Yuma]], [[Arizona]], and assigned as Flight Surgeon Marine Attack Squadron 211 (VMA-211), a Marine Corps [[AV-8B Harrier]] squadron. Clark 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 award for its successful deployment. Clark was then assigned as the Group Flight Surgeon for [[Marine Aircraft Group 13]] (MAG-13).

Before her selection as an astronaut candidate, Clark served as a Flight Surgeon for Training Squadron 86 ([[VT-86]]), the [[Naval Flight Officer]] advanced training squadron for tactical jets at NAS Pensacola. She was Board Certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners and held a Wisconsin Medical License, and her military qualifications included Radiation Health Officer, Undersea Medical Officer, Diving Medical Officer, Submarine Medical Officer, and Naval Flight Surgeon. Clark was also 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 [[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>

==Awards and decorations==
Clark was awarded numerous insignia and personal decorations including:

===Qualification insignia===
* [[Astronaut Badge|Naval Astronaut/Flight Surgeon]]
* [[Flight Surgeon Badge (United States)|Naval Flight Surgeon]]
* [[Diver insignia|Diving Medical Officer]]
* [[Submarine Medical insignia|Submarine Medical Officer]]

===Personal decorations===
* [[Defense Distinguished Service Medal]] <sup>†</sup>
* [[Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal]]  with 2 gold [[award stars]] (3 awards)
* [[Congressional Space Medal of Honor]] <sup>†</sup>
* [[NASA Distinguished Service Medal]] <sup>†</sup>
* [[NASA Space Flight Medal]] <sup>†</sup>
* [[National Defense Service Medal]]
* [[Overseas Service Ribbon]]

The <sup>†</sup> symbol indicates a posthumous award.

==Tributes==
* [[Asteroid]] [[51827 Laurelclark]] was named for Clark.<ref>{{cite web |title=51827 Laurelclark (2001 OH38 )|url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?orb=1;sstr=51827 |website=JPL Small-Body Database Browser |publisher=[[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] |access-date=August 10, 2016 |date=October 2, 2003}}</ref>
*Clark Hill in the [[Columbia Hills (Mars)|Columbia Hills]] on [[Mars]] was named for Clark.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Donald |title=NASA Dedicates Mars Landmarks To Columbia Crew |url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/feb/HQ_04048_columbia_landmarks.html |access-date=August 10, 2016 |work=NASA News |agency=NASA |issue=Release no. 04-048 |date=February 2, 2004}}</ref>
* L. Clark, an interior crater of the lunar crater [[Apollo (crater)|Apollo]], was named for Clark.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blue |first=Jennifer |date=2006-07-27 |url=https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/HotTopics/index.php?/archives/147-Names-for-the-Columbia-astronauts-provisionally-approved.html |title=Names for the Columbia astronauts provisionally approved |publisher=USGS Astrogeology |access-date=2006-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630061535/http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/HotTopics/index.php?%2Farchives%2F147-Names-for-the-Columbia-astronauts-provisionally-approved.html |archive-date=30 June 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Lunar crater L. Clark | url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14143;jsessionid=24CD947A3489F6EF60C42E85455DFF6F?__fsk=-812292541 | website = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature | publisher = [[IAU]] | access-date=16 June 2021}}</ref>
* Clark Hall, in the Columbia Village Suites at the [[Florida Institute of Technology]], is named after her.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} The apartments were initially planned to be named the Crane Creek Suites, but were renamed in 2008 to commemorate the ''Columbia'' crew.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
* The Laurel Salton Clark Memorial Fountain in Racine, Wisconsin is named for her.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chien |first1=Philip |title=Columbia: Final Voyage |year=2006 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=9780387271491 |page=414 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFebKu1pHE4C&pg=PA414}}</ref>
* In 2004, the Naval Aerospace Medicine Institute named its Aerospace Medicine Academic Center in [[Pensacola]] after Clark and [[David M. Brown]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Duren |first1=Rod |title=Navy Names Training Facility For Fallen Astronauts |url=http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=14947 |access-date=August 10, 2016 |work=America's Navy |agency=U.S. Navy |issue=August 27, 2004 |archive-date=July 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709051434/https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=14947 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Clark Auditorium at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland is named for her and displays uniforms, training manuals, and personal items that belonged to her.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}
* The Scottish band [[Runrig]] pays tribute to Clark on the 2016 album ''[[The Story (Runrig album)|The Story]]''. The final track, "Somewhere", ends with a recording of her voice.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/skye-rockers-runrig-prepare-for-their-final-album-1-4016107 |title=Skye rockers Runrig prepare for their final album |website=[[The Scotsman]] |access-date=2017-01-24 |date=January 30, 2016}}</ref> Clark was a Runrig fan and had a wake up call with Runrig's "Running to the Light". She took their 2001 ''[[The Stamping Ground]]'' CD into space with her. When the shuttle disintegrated the CD was found back on Earth, and was presented to the band by her family.
* [[Northrop Grumman]] named a [[Cygnus (spacecraft)|Cygnus]] cargo spacecraft [[Cygnus NG-19|S.S. ''Laurel Clark'']].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pearlman |first1=Robert Z. |title=Northrop Grumman names cargo craft for fallen Columbia astronaut Laurel Clark |url=https://news.yahoo.com/northrop-grumman-names-cargo-craft-140035132.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |work=[[Space.com]] |date=April 7, 2023 |via=[[Yahoo! News]]}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|3534922}}
*{{cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/columbia/Troxell/Columbia%20Web%20Site/Biographies/Crew%20Profile%20Information/Crew%20Biographies/Clark%20Astronaut%20Bio%20Data.htm|title=LAUREL BLAIR SALTON CLARK, M.D. (CAPTAIN, USN)|work=[[NASA]]|date=February 2003|access-date=2019-05-07}}
*[https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/clark_laurel.pdf NASA biography] May 2004

{{Congressional Space Medal of Honor}}
{{STS-107}}
{{NASA Astronaut Group 16}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Laurel}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Space Shuttle Columbia disaster]]
[[Category:20th-century American women]]
[[Category:20th-century Unitarians]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:21st-century Unitarians]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in Texas]]
[[Category:Amateur radio people]]
[[Category:Amateur radio women]]
[[Category:American Unitarian Universalists]]
[[Category:American women astronauts]]
[[Category:American women aviators]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:Female United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Ames, Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Racine, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Physician astronauts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal]]
[[Category:Space medicine doctors]]
[[Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts]]
[[Category:United States Navy astronauts]]
[[Category:United States Navy captains]]
[[Category:United States Navy Medical Corps officers]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of the Gulf War]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)]]
[[Category:United States Navy submariners]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health alumni]]
[[Category:William Horlick High School alumni]]
[[Category:Women Divers Hall of Fame]]
[[Category:American female military personnel of the Gulf War]]