Credit: NASA Public Domain

Captain Laurel Clark was a medical doctor, United States Navy Captain, and NASA astronaut. Qualified as a mission specialist she flew aboard Columbia (STS-107) on its fatal flight when it disintegrated during orbital re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Dr Kass was a member of the ESA team who trained the STS-107 crew to operate the Biopack facility, a compact biological experiment facility, which flew with this mission. Laurel Clark was amongst the crew assigned as primary operators for the Biopack facility.