Stephen D. Thorne

Stephen Thorne
Born	Stephen Douglas Thorne (1953-02-11)February 11, 1953 Frankfurt,West Germany(nowGermany
Died	May 24, 1986(1986-05-24)(aged 33) Santa Fe, Texas,U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Education	United States Naval Academy(BS)
Space career
NASA astronautcandidate
Rank	Lieutenant Commander,USN
Selection	NASA Group 11 (1985)

Stephen Douglas Thorne(February 11, 1953 – May 24, 1986), (Lt Cmdr,USN), was an Americannaval officerandaviator,test pilotand aNASAastronautcandidate.

He was born on February 11, 1953, inFrankfurt,West Germany,and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1975. He was a Navyfighter pilotfrom 1976 until he became atest pilotin 1981.

He was accepted for NASA astronaut training in June 1985, but died in an airplane accident where he was a passenger on May 24, 1986.

He was survived by his wife, Sue Lotz ofStaunton, Virginia.His interests includedbaseball,running,reading,andgeneral aviation.

Education

He graduated fromT. L. Hanna High School,Anderson, South Carolina,in 1971 and received aBachelor of Sciencedegree inSystems Engineeringfrom theUnited States Naval Academyin 1975.

Naval career

Upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, Thorne entered flight training and received hisaviator wingsin December 1976. Following training in theF-4 Phantom,he joined Fighter Squadron 21 (VF-21) and deployed to theWestern Pacificaboard theUSSRanger.After training at theU.S. Naval Test Pilot Schoolin 1981, Thorne spent the next two years at Strike Aircraft Test at theNaval Air Test Center,Patuxent River, Maryland,flying mostly ordnance and weapons systems tests in the F-4 andA-7 Corsair II.He completedF-18 Hornettransition training in October 1984 and joined Strike Fighter Squadron 132 (VFA-132) aboardUSSCoral Seauntil departing for NASA.

He accumulated over 2,500 flying hours and 200 carrier landings in approximately 30 different types of aircraft.

Astronaut experience

Following an unsuccessful application forNASA Astronaut Group 10,Thorne was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA inJune 1985and in August, commenced a one-year training and evaluation program to qualify him for subsequent assignment as a pilot on futureSpace Shuttleflights.

Thorne was killed in an aircraft accident of a stunt plane, in which he was a passenger, on May 24, 1986, two months before his astronaut class graduated. The stunt plane crashed while performing maneuvers nearSanta Fe, Texas,killing Thorne and NASA engineer James Simons.He is buried atArlington National Cemetery.

Organizations

• Member of theSociety of Experimental Test Pilots.
• Life member of the Naval Academy Alumni Association.

Awards

ReceivedNavy Commendation Medalin January 1986.

External links

• "STEPHEN D. THORNE (LIEUTENANT COMMANDER, USN), NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)"(PDF).NASA. November 1986.RetrievedJune 18,2021.