[1] After Thornton earned her doctoral degree at the University of Virginia in 1979, she was awarded a NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her research at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany.

[3] In 1980, Thornton became a physicist at the United States Army Foreign Science and Technology Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.

After 79 orbits of the Earth, this five-day mission concluded on November 27, 1989, at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

STS-49 logged 213 hours in space and 141 Earth orbits prior to landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

During the 11-day flight, the HST was captured and restored to full capacity through a record five spacewalks by four astronauts, including Thornton.

After having traveled 4,433,772 miles in 163 orbits of the Earth, the crew of Endeavour returned to a night landing at the Kennedy Space Center on December 13, 1993.

[10] From October 20 to November 5, 1995, Thornton served aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-73,[6]: 105  as the payload commander of the second United States Microgravity Laboratory mission.

During her appearance, she shared her experiences as a scientist and astronaut, aiming to support and inspire women in the technology sector.