John M . Lounge John Michael " Mike " Lounge ( June 28 , 1946March 1 , 2011 ) was an American engineer , a United States Navy officer , a Vietnam War veteran , and a NASA astronaut . A veteran of three Space Shuttle flights , Lounge logged over 482 hours in space . He was a mission specialist on STS - 51 - I ( 1985 ) and STS - 26 ( 1988 ) and was the flight engineer on STS - 35 ( 1990 ) . Personal . John Michael Lounge was born June 28 , 1946 , in Denver , Colorado , but considered Burlington , Colorado to be his hometown . He graduated from Burlington High School in 1964 , then received a Bachelor of Science degree from the U . S . Naval Academy in 1969 and a Master of Science degree in astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1970 . Lounge was an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics . Military career . Lounge entered on active duty with the United States Navy following graduation from the U . S . Naval Academy and spent the next nine years in a variety of assignments . He completed Naval Flight Officer training at Pensacola , Florida , went on to advanced training as a radar intercept officer in the F - 4J Phantom II , and subsequently reported to Fighter Squadron 142 ( VF - 142 ) based at Naval Air Station Miramar , California . While with VF - 142 , he completed a nine - month Southeast Asia cruise aboard ( participating in 99 combat missions ) and a seven - month Mediterranean cruise aboard . In 1974 , he returned to the U . S . Naval Academy as an instructor in the Physics Department . Lounge transferred to the Navy Space Project Office in Washington , D . C . , in 1976 , for a two - year tour as a staff project office . He resigned his regular Navy commission in 1978 . NASA career . Lounge was employed at the Lyndon B . Johnson Space Center beginning in July 1978 . During this time , he worked as lead engineer for Space Shuttle - launched satellites , and also served as a member of the Skylab Reentry Flight Control Team . He completed these assignments while with the Payload Operations Division . Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1980 , he completed a one - year training and evaluation period , and became an astronaut in August 1981 . He served as a member of the launch support team at Kennedy Space Center for the STS - 1 , STS - 2 , and STS - 3 missions . Following his first flight , he was assigned to the first mission to carry the Centaur ( cryogenically fueled ) upper stage ( STS - 61 - F ) . After the mission was canceled , he participated in Space Station design development . From 1989 through 1991 , Lounge served as Chief of the Space Station Support Office , representing astronaut interests in Space Station design and operation planning . Spaceflights . STS - 51 - I Space Shuttle " Discovery " , launched from Kennedy Space Center , Florida , on August 27 , 1985 . During that mission Lounge ' s duties included deployment of the Australian AUSSAT communications satellite and operation of the Remote Manipulator System ( RMS ) . The crew deployed two other communications satellites , the Navy ' s SYNCOM IV - 4 , and American Satellite Company ' s ASC - 1 , and also performed a successful on - orbit rendezvous and repair of the ailing 15 , 400 lb ( 6 , 990 kg ) SYNCOM IV - 3 satellite . STS - 51 - I completed 112 orbits of the Earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on September 3 , 1985 . Mission duration was 171 hours , 17 minutes , 42 seconds . STS - 26 " Discovery " , the first flight to be flown after the " Challenger " accident , launched from the Kennedy Space Center on September 29 , 1988 . During the four - day mission , the crewmen successfully deployed the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite ( TDRS - C ) , which was subsequently carried to orbit by the Inertial Upper Stage ( IUS ) rocket . They also operated eleven mid - deck experiments . " Discovery " completed 64 orbits of the Earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on October 3 , 1988 . Mission duration was 97 hours , 57 seconds . STS - 35 " Columbia " , launched from the Kennedy Space Center on December 2 , 1990 . Lounge served as flight engineer on this 9 - day flight that was dedicated to astronomy . Observations of the Universe were collected by the ASTRO - 1 ultraviolet telescope and by the Broad Band X - Ray Telescope . " Columbia " completed 142 orbits of the Earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on December 10 , 1990 . Mission duration was 215 hours , 5 minutes , 8 seconds . Post - NASA career . Lounge resigned from NASA in June 1991 to join SPACEHAB ( now Astrotech Corporation ) . At the time , Lounge explained his resignation from the NASA Astronaut Corps by saying " This is a very tough job to leave , but I feel that three flights is my fair share , and I ' m ready for a new challenge . " In 2002 , Lounge became Director of Space Shuttle and Space Station Program Development for Boeing . Two years later he became Director for Business Development for integrated defense systems and space exploration . Death . Lounge died on March 1 , 2011 , of complications from liver cancer .