Samuel Thornton Durrance was an American scientist who flew aboard two NASA Space Shuttle missions as a payload specialist.
Durrance in 1996
Sam Durrance and Jeffrey Hoffman during the first classroom lesson broadcast from space
Payload Specialists Durrance and Parise work out.
A payload specialist (PS) was an individual selected and trained by commercial or research organizations for flights of a specific payload on a NASA Space Shuttle mission. People assigned as payload specialists included individuals selected by the research community, a company or consortium flying a commercial payload aboard the spacecraft, and non-NASA astronauts designated by international partners.
Ukrainian astronaut Leonid Kadenyuk seen with a badge of payload specialist on the left side of his chest