Today was the birthday of Astronaut David Brown. David joined the Astronaut corps in the class of 1996 and completed his two years of ASCAN training very successfully. After completing training, he was assigned to a ISS payload development position and later as a "Cape Crusader": an astronaut responsible for ensuring that the cockpit is ready for flight and helps in the strapping in and recovery of the astronauts. His first and only assignment came in 2003, STS-107. The mission was plagued with technical difficulties, including a launch scrub, but it eventually flew. That mission was a Spacehab science mission, STS-107, him and his other crew members performed over 80 experiments. The flight ended 16 minutes prior to a scheduled landing at KSC as the orbiter Columbia disintegrated over the skies of Texas and Louisiana. Hail David Brown. Hail Columbia. Godspeed! #davidbrown #astronaut #astronautbirthday #astronautcorps #nasaclassof1996 #ASCAN #astronautcandidate #payload #iss @iss #capecrusader #capecrusaders #cockpit #launchscrub #technicaldifficulties #sts107 #spacehab #columbia #orbitercolumbia #columbiadisaster #texas #louisiana #godspeeddavidbrown