Mark N . Brown Mark Neil Brown ( born November 18 , 1951 in Valparaiso , Indiana ) is an engineer , retired Colonel in the United States Air Force and former NASA astronaut . Experience . Brown received his pilot wings at Laughlin Air Force Base , Texas , in 1974 . He was then assigned to the 87th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at K . I . Sawyer Air Force Base , Michigan , where he flew both T - 33 and F - 106 aircraft . In 1979 Brown was transferred to the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio , and received his master of science degree in astronautical engineering in 1980 . NASA experience . Brown was assigned to the Lyndon B . Johnson Space Center since 1980 . Assigned as an engineer in the Flight Activities Section , he participated in the development of contingency procedures for use aboard the Space Shuttle and served as an attitude and pointing officer . Brown supported STS flights 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 8 and 41 - C in the Flight Activity Officer / Staff Support Room of the Mission Control Center . Selected by NASA in May 1984 , Brown became an astronaut in June 1985 , and qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews . In December 1985 , he was assigned to the crew of STS - 61 - N , a Department of Defense mission which was subsequently canceled due to the " Challenger " disaster . During 1986 and 1987 , he served as an astronaut member of the solid rocket booster redesign team . In February 1988 Brown was assigned to a new flight crew . He flew on STS - 28 ( August 8 - August 13 , 1989 ) , following which he served as astronaut member on the Space Station Freedom Program . He next flew on STS - 48 ( September 12 - September 18 , 1991 ) . With the completion of his second mission , Brown has logged over 249 hours in space . On his first space flight , Brown served as a mission specialist on the crew of STS - 28 . The Orbiter " Columbia " launched from Kennedy Space Center , Florida , on August 8 , 1989 . The mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads . After 80 orbit s of the Earth , this five - day mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base , California on August 13 , 1989 . Brown next flew on the crew of STS - 48 aboard the Orbiter " Discovery " which launched from Kennedy Space Center , Florida , on September 12 , 1991 . This was a five - day mission during which the crew deployed the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite ( UARS ) which is designed to provide scientists with their first complete data set on the upper atmosphere ' s chemistry , winds and energy inputs . The crew also conducted numerous secondary experiments ranging from growing protein crystals to studying how fluids and structures react in weightlessness . The mission was accomplished in 81 orbits of the Earth and concluded with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on September 18 , 1991 . Brown left NASA in July 1993 and retired from the U . S . Air Force to head up the Space Division office of General Research Corporation in Dayton , Ohio . Personal data . Married to the former Lynne A . Anderson of River Grove , Illinois ; they have two daughters .