NASA Astronaut Patricia Hilliard Robertson. Photo: NASA/JSC

NASA Astronaut Patricia Hilliard Robertson (MD) died Thursday night from injuries she suffered in a private plane accident two days earlier. She was 38.

Robertson and the pilot of the single engine plane sustained second- and third-degree burns on more than 90 percent of their bodies, according to an Associate Press report. The plane cartwheeled and crashed into trees during a takeoff and landing practice at an airfield in Manvel, Texas.

Flags at the Johnson Space Center will be flown at half-staff today in her honor.

The family plans to hold a private memorial service. Final funeral arrangements are pending.

Robertson, born on March 12, 1963 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, was a member of the Astronaut class of 1998 and assigned as a crew support astronaut for the Expedition Two crew presently on board the International Space Station. While awaiting a spaceflight assignment, she served as an interface between the Mission Control Flight Control Team and the Astronaut Office on issues related to the Expedition Two crew and, along with other astronauts, coordinates activities on the ground for the three crewmembers in space.

She joined NASA's Flight Medicine Clinic at the Johnson Space Center in 1997 prior to being selected to be an astronaut. In addition to being a medical doctor, Robertson was a multi-engine rated flight instructor with more than 1,500 hours of flight time.