Thornton, Kathryn (1952–)
Thornton, Kathryn (1952–)
American astronaut. Born Kathryn Ryan Cordell, Aug 17, 1952, at Montgomery, Alabama; dau. of William Carten Thornton and Elsie Elizabeth Ryan Cordell (restaurant owners); Auburn University, BS, 1974, University of Virginia, MS, 1977, PhD, 1979; m. Stephen Thomas Thornton; children: Carol Elizabeth (b. 1982), Laura Lee (b. 1985), Susan Annette (b. 1990); (stepsons) Kenneth (b. 1963) and Michael (b. 1965).
Selected by NASA (1984); flew on 3 missions (1989); became the 1st female astronaut to fly on a classified Department of Defense mission (1992), achieving the female spacewalking record; helped repair the Hubble telescope (1993); went on 4th mission as payload commander of the 2nd US Microgravity Laboratory (1995).
See also Women in World History.