John M. Lounge

John Michael "Mike" Lounge
NASA astronaut
Nationality	American
Status	Retired (Deceased)
Born	(1946-06-28)June 28, 1946 Denver, Colorado
Died	March 1, 2011(2011-03-01) (aged 64)
Other occupation	Engineer
Time in space	20d 02h 23m
Selection	1980 NASA Group
Missions	STS-51-I, STS-26, STS-35
Mission insignia

John Michael "Mike" Lounge (June 28, 1946 – March 1, 2011) was an American engineer, a United States Navy officer, a Vietnam War veteran, and a NASA astronaut. A veteran of three Space Shuttle flights, Lounge logged over 482 hours in space. He was a mission specialist on STS-51-I (1985) and STS-26 (1988) and was the flight engineer on STS-35 (1990).

John Michael Lounge was born June 28, 1946, in Denver, Colorado, but considered Burlington, Colorado to be his hometown. He graduated from Burlington High School in 1964, then received a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1969 and a Master of Science degree in astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1970. Lounge was an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Lounge entered on active duty with the United States Navy following graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy and spent the next nine years in a variety of assignments. He completed Naval Flight Officer training at Pensacola, Florida, went on to advanced training as a radar intercept officer in the F-4J Phantom II, and subsequently reported to Fighter Squadron 142 (VF-142) based at Naval Air Station Miramar, California. While with VF-142, he completed a nine-month Southeast Asia cruise aboard USS Enterprise (participating in 99 combat missions) and a seven-month Mediterranean cruise aboard USS America. In 1974, he returned to the U.S. Naval Academy as an instructor in the Physics Department. Lounge transferred to the Navy Space Project Office in Washington, D.C., in 1976, for a two-year tour as a staff project office. He resigned his regular Navy commission in 1978.