Curtis Lee "Curt" Brown Jr. (born March 11, 1956) is a former NASA astronaut and retired United States Air Force colonel.

He graduated from East Bladen High School in Elizabethtown, North Carolina in 1974[2] and received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1978.

[1] Upon graduation in June 1986, Brown was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, where he served as a test pilot in the A-10 and F-16 aircraft until his selection for the astronaut program.

[1] Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in June 1987,[4] Brown completed a one-year training and evaluation program in August 1988, and is qualified for flight assignment as a pilot.

Following 175 orbits of the Earth, the 11-day mission ended with the Atlantis landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, November 14, 1994 15:34 (UTC).

The shuttle lifted off from Launch Complex 39A August 7, 1997 14:41 (UTC)[20] on a 12-day mission during which the crew deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS payload, operated the Japanese Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) robotic arm, studied changes in the Earth's atmosphere and tested technology destined for use on the future International Space Station.

The mission was accomplished in 134 Earth orbits, touching down at the Shuttle Landing Facility November 7, 1998 17:04 (UTC)[24] after traveling 3.6 million miles in 213 hours and 44 minutes.

Lifting off from Launch Complex 39A December 20, 1999 00:50 (UTC),[26] STS-103 was an 8-day mission during which the crew successfully installed new instruments and upgraded systems on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

The STS-103 mission was accomplished in 120 Earth orbits, touching down at the Shuttle Landing Facility December 28, 1999 00:01 (UTC)[27] after traveling 3.2 million miles in 191 hours and 11 minutes.