engineering

Mark N. Brown

Mark N. Brown is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mark N. Brown rather than just read about it. In short: Mark Neil Brown (born November 18, 1951) is an American engineer, retired colonel in the United States Air Force and former NASA astronaut. Brown spent a total of ten days in space, over two Space Shuttle missions.

Key takeaways

Mark N. Brown belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mark N. Brown to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mark N. Brown from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mark Neil Brown (born November 18, 1951) is an American engineer, retired colonel in the United States Air Force and former NASA astronaut. Brown spent a total of ten days in space, over two Space Shuttle missions.

Personal life Brown was born November 18, 1951, in Valparaiso, Indiana, to Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Brown. His recreational interests include fishing, hiking, jogging, all sports and chess. He married the former Lynne A. Anderson of River Grove, Illinois; they have two daughters.

Education 1969: Graduated from Valparaiso High School, Valparaiso, Indiana 1973: Received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 1980: Received a Master of Science degree in astronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology of Air University, Dayton, Ohio

Air Force experience Following graduation from Purdue in 1973, Brown was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force and 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. Brown graduated from the Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, in 1975. He was transferred to the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and earned his master's degree in astronautical engineering in 1980. Two years later, he graduated from the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

NASA career Brown was assigned to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 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-2, STS-3, STS-4, STS-6, STS-8 and STS-41-C in the Flight Activity Officer/Staff Support Room of the Mission Control Center. Brown became an astronaut in June 1985 after being selected in May 1984, 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 canceled due to the Challenger disaster. During 1986 and 1987, he was an astronaut member of the solid rocket booster redesign team. In February 1988, Brown was assigned to STS-28, flying on 8 August 1989, after which he served as astronaut member on the Space Station Freedom program, which was later canceled. He next flew on STS-48 on 12 September 1991. Brown had logged over 249 hours in space after flying two missions. On his first space flight, Brown was a mission specialist on the crew of STS-28. The orbiter Columbia was launched from Kennedy Space Center on August 8, 1989. The mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. After 80 orbits of the Earth, this five-day mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 13 August 1989. Brown also flew on STS-48 aboard Discovery on 12 September 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 on September 18, 1991. Brown left NASA in July 1993 and retired from the U.S. Air Force to head the Space Division office of General Research Corporation in Dayton, Ohio.

Special honors Air Force Command Pilot Senior Space Badge Defense Superior Service Medal Air Force Commendation Medals (2) Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Combat Readiness Medal National Defense Service Medal Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon NASA Space Flight Medal Distinguished Graduate from Air Force ROTC Aerospace Defense Command "We Point With Pride" Award

References

External links

Brown's official NASA biography Astronautix biography of Mark N. Brown Spacefacts biography of Mark N. Brown This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mark N. Brown

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mark N. Brown claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mark N. Brown before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mark N. Brown ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mark N. Brown

In research: Mark N. Brown appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mark N. Brown in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mark N. Brown is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1951 births, 1989 in spaceflight, 1991 in spaceflight, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mark N. Brown outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mark N. Brown in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mark N. Brown means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mark N. Brown out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mark N. Brown in simple terms?

Why does Mark N. Brown matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mark N. Brown?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mark N. Brown.