Clark, 41, was a mission specialist. A U.S. Navy commander and divind medical officer, she was also a flight surgeon. Before she joined the Navy, she studied zoology and medicine.

Selected to be an astronaut in 1996, she was making her first spaceflight.

She was married and had a son, who is 8. Laurel's cousin died in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.