Thagard, Norman E., 1943-

Norman Earl Thagard born July 3, 1943, Marianna, Florida, U.S.; September 1966 he entered active duty with the United States Marine Corps Reserve; Florida State University, B.S. 1965, M.S. 1966; UT Southwestern, M.D. 1977
University of Florida, MBA 2007; selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978; . He was a Mission Specialist on STS-7 in 1983, STS-51-B in 1985, STS-30 in 1989, was the Payload Commander on STS-42 in 1992, and was the cosmonaut/researcher on the Russian Mir-18 mission in 1995; Tenured Professor at the FAMU - FSU College of Engineering; Co-founder and Executive Director, Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee, with shuttle/mission control/space station simulators, digital space theater/planetarium and IMAX theater.