Dave Brown

Dave said that he came out of his shell in high school and decided to join the football and gymnastics teams. He continued gymnastics in college which led to the most unusual career ever for an astronaut. One day a circus recruiter called him up and asked him if he'd like to perform in the circus for a summer. Brown took him up and became an acrobat, 7 foot unicyclist, and stilt walker for "Circus Kingdom" for a summer.

Dave Brown's family consisted of his father Paul - a Virginia judge, mother Dorothy, and older brother Doug. He also had a dog, Duggins. Duggins was in bad health when the crew flew to Florida for the launch and had to be put to sleep just two days before the STS-107 launch.

Dave was an enthusiastic videographer and rarely did he go anywhere without his camcorder. In the Navy he made a documentary for Arctic medical operations. Some of its footage was used in the McGraw Hill video Flight Deck earning Dave his first professional video credit.

Dave was rather unusual for any single man - he got along well with his ex-girlfriends and invited many of them to Florida for his launch. He was the godfather to his medical school girlfriend Brenda's son and she remained one of his closest friends. At the time of the accident Brown was dating Janneke Gisolf, a graduate student in Amsterdam who was part of the STS-107 ARMS experiment.

Dave Brown's official NASA bio.

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Dave and his brother Doug find an egg while camping	Dave (right) with childhood friends	An early shot of the Brown family	Dave and Doug Brown 1968	Dave was a high school and college gymnast
And he can even juggle!	Dave Brown (left) performing in the circus in 1977	A 20 year reunion of Dave's circus colleagues	Dave rides a unicycle at the circus reunion	Circus colleagues pose with Dave's Bonanza
Dave in Mombasa 1986	Dave on the USS Carl Vinson in 1986	Dave in Navy flight training, squadron VT-26	Dave in jet training	Dave in carrier pilot training cira 1990	Dave with a Navy fighter
First solo flight 1978	Dave even tried hang gliding	Dave's Bonanza	Dave with his Piper Cub in Alaska	Dave flying his Piper Cub	Dave and his parents with his Bonanza
Dave and Doug surprise their parents for their 50th anniversary	The Brown family and girlfriend Holly when Dave graduated astronaut school	Medical school girlfriend Brenda with her sons, including Dave's godson	Brown family in Virginia with girlfriend Ann	Dave with his best friend - Duggins	Duggins
Dave's two biggest fans - nephew Danny and niece Casey	Dave teaches his parents how to use a computer	Pilots from Dave's neighborhood fly to Galveston for an IMAX movie	Dave and Laurel on a tandem bicycle	Dave and KC relax	Janneke Gisolf - Dave's girlfriend at the time of the accident
Dave Brown's official NASA portrait	Dave's favorite charity was FIRST	Dave with other FIRST judges	Dave examines a FIRST robot	Dave with a portrait of Challenger astronaut Ron McNair	Dave with students at Ron McNair Middle School
Dave's favorite photo he shot - a T-38 with John Young and Laurel Clark framed by the moon	Judge Paul and Dorothy Brown with the crew at the beach house party a couple of days before launch	Navy buddy Jeff "Goldy" Goldfinger served as Dave's 'wife' for the family tour of the launch pad	Judge Paul and Dorothy Brown watch the STS-107 launch	During STS-107 Dave emailed this photo of his family framed by Columbia's windows with the Earth behind	Doug Brown presents McKinley Elementary school with an STS-107 photo presentation

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Some Navy and Polly Ranch photos courtesy of Al Saylor.
Circus photos courtesy of Debby Kate Stahl Ramsey and April Zink.
Launch pad "spouses" tour photo courtesy of Jeff "Goldy" Goldfinger.
Other Navy photos and family photos courtesy of the Brown family.
Portrait, FIRST, and McNair Middle School photos from NASA.

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