Stephen D. Thorne

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Stephen Douglas Thorne (February 11, 1953 – May 24, 1986), (

He was born on February 11, 1953, in Frankfurt, West Germany, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1975. He was a Navy fighter pilot from 1976 until he became a test pilot in 1981.

He was accepted for NASA astronaut training in June 1985, but died in an airplane accident where he was a passenger on May 24, 1986.

He was survived by his wife, Sue Lotz of

He accumulated over 2,500 flying hours and 200 carrier landings in approximately 30 different types of aircraft.[1]

Astronaut experience

Following an unsuccessful application for NASA Astronaut Group 10,^[2] Thorne was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in June 1985 and in August, commenced a one-year training and evaluation program to qualify him for subsequent assignment as a pilot on future Space Shuttle flights.

Thorne was killed in an aircraft accident of a stunt plane, in which he was a passenger, on May 24, 1986, two months before his astronaut class graduated. The stunt plane crashed while performing maneuvers near Santa Fe, Texas, killing Thorne and NASA engineer James Simons.^[3] He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.^[4]

Organizations

• Member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
• Life member of the Naval Academy Alumni Association.

Awards

Received

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stephen D. Thorne.

• "STEPHEN D. THORNE (LIEUTENANT COMMANDER, USN), NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)" (PDF). NASA. November 1986. Retrieved June 18, 2021.