May God bless you and your...
I will missed you. Rest in Peace.
Brennen Garcia
March 13, 2017 | Round Lake, IL
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Obituary
Laurel Clark was a diving medical officer aboard submarines and then a flight surgeon before she became an astronaut in 1996. She had been on board Columbia to help with more than 80 science experiments.
"She was doing something that she cared deeply about, that she was very good at," said her father, Robert Salton, 69, of Albuquerque, N.M. In fact, he said, "she was pretty good at everything."
The 41-year-old was married with an 8-year-old son and lived in Racine, Wis.
Clark "had done something in a world usually reserved for men and she was pleased at the opportunity," said her aunt, Betty Haviland, of Ames, Iowa.
Clark knew space flight remained risky. "There's a lot of different things that we do during life that could potentially harm us and I choose not to stop doing those things," she said.
Clark joined the Navy to pay her way through medical school and begin looking toward the space program as her military career drew to a close, Salton said. Clark joined NASA in 1996 and earned a flight assignment as a mission specialist after two years.
Before Columbia's launch, Clark said her family, including son Ian, sometimes worried about her being an astronaut.
"To me, there's a lot of different things that we do during life that could potentially harm us, and I choose not to stop doing those things," Clark said. "They've all come to accept that it's what I want to do."
Clark's family already had been wracked by national tragedy: Timothy Haviland, her cousin and Haviland's son, died in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Dan Salton received an e-mail from his sister Friday about how much she was enjoying her experience aboard the shuttle.
"She loved it," he said. "I'm just so glad she got to get up to space and got to see it because that had been a dream for a long time."
Copyright © 2003 The Associated Press
Guest Book
December 5, 2015
I didn't have a computer in 2003 to express my sympathy to you all. I know this has been such a terrible loss of a wonderful lady. I have prayed for you all, especially for her son. My precious little dog Mr. K. died the same day. I have Mr. K. and Laurel's pictures in a pretty cedar box with Mr. K's cremains. Many times over the years I have open the box, looked at Laurel's and Mr. K.'s picture, said a pray and know they have both crossed over "The Rainbow...
Caroline Trenary
December 05, 2015 | Nashville, TN
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I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-Silvered wings.
Where never Lark nor eagle flew And while with silent lifting mind I trod The high untrespassed Sanctity of space, Put out my hand And touched the face of God.
Julia Crim
November 15, 2013 | Arlington, TX
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I think of you and the rest of the STS-107 crew, I remember watching a show where your husband John said, no more false hope no more wishful thinking this is over, I remember watching what I thought was going to be the end of a wonderful mission instad it was a nightmare, one of my friends thought is was something else other then the shuttle, I wanted to believe it was to but in my heart, I knew we had lost 7 wonderful pepole, I wish I could change everything, if there really is a heaven, I...
Derek
August 03, 2011
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It seems like yesterday. I stayed for a week in a small Little Bay, JA resort called Coconuts by the Sea. Laurel Clark, her husband, and son were also there, spending their last family vacation time together prior to the Columbia flight. What a wonderful spirit this woman had! As a teacher, I loved to visit area schools when on vacation. Laurel so graciously accompanied me one afternoon to describe her mission and aspirations to the students of Little Bay. On another day we were swimming in...
March 06, 2011
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To the Clark family,
We are sorry for the loss of your loved one. May the comforting words from family and friends continue to strengthen you, and the fond memories of your loved one continue to provide comfort to you.
May you find a measure of peace in God's promises found in the last book of the Holy Scriptures 21:4..."And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things...
February 01, 2011
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to the remberance of Laurel Clark
i would like to send my deepest sympathy to her family
god bless all cosmonauts and the nasa as well
daniele fromant
October 29, 2006 | Dublin Ireland
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sorry for your loss.
alicia mcelwain
January 27, 2005 | Midland, MI
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This story about Laurel Clark caught my attention;
At a reception for astronauts the night before liftoff, a 9-year-old girl, the daughter of a friend, walked up to Laurel Clark and handed her a poem.
Its first line was: "The angel who fell to earth."
Laurel and her husband, Jon, exchanged a glance.
"I said, 'Wow. I wonder what that means,' " Jon Clark recalled. " 'I hope it doesn't mean what I think it does.' "
Though...
Kid
February 22, 2004 | ON
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