Shuttle Astronaut Laurel Clark Parents, Margory & Richard Brown, Die In AZ Car Crash

TUCSON, AZ. (THECOUNT) — The parents of Laurel Clark, one of the astronauts killed on the space shuttle Columbia, have been identified as victims in a fatal Arizona car accident, say Monday reports.

Reports say Monday that Margory and Richard Brown were the mother and stepfather of Clark.

Police say the Browns, both 85, were approaching an intersection in Oro Valley when they collided with a 19-year-old man making a U-turn.

The impact caused the couple’s car to collide with an oncoming tow truck, sending their vehicle into a tree.

Clark was one of seven astronauts who died Feb. 1, 2003 when Columbia broke apart during re-entry over Texas, just minutes before a Florida touchdown, reports HoustonChronicle.

In 2006, Clark’s family helped dedicate a bronze sculpture in Tucson in her memory.

Geo quick facts: Oro Valley, incorporated in 1974, is a suburban town located 6 miles north of Tucson, Arizona, United States in Pima County. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 41,011, an increase from 29,700 in 2000 census – Wikipedia.