Daniel Bursch

Misje:

• STS-51
• STS-68
• STS-77
• STS-108

Informacje o Daniel Bursch

DATA: Born July 25, 1957, in Bristol, Pennsylvania, but considers Vestal, New York, to be his hometown. He has four children and one grandchild. Hobbies include woodworking and working on cars. His parents, Dudley and Betsy Bursch, are deceased. EDUCATION: Graduated from Vestal Senior High School, Vestal, New York, in 1975; received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the United States Naval Academy in 1979; Master of Science in Engineering Science from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1991. ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). SPECIAL HONORS: Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, NASA Space Flight Medals, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal. Distinguished graduate, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. EXPERIENCE: Bursch graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1979, and was designated a naval flight officer in April 1980 at Pensacola, Florida. After initial training as an A-6E Intruder bombardier/navigator (B/N), he reported to Attack Squadron 34 in January 1981, and deployed to the Mediterranean aboard the USS John F. Kennedy, and to the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans aboard the USS America. He attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in January 1984. Upon graduation in December he worked as a project test flight officer flying the A-6 Intruder until August 1984, when he returned to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School as a flight instructor. In April 1987, Bursch was assigned to the Commander, CruiserDestroyer Group 1, as Strike Operations Officer, making deployments to the Indian Ocean aboard the USS Long Beach and the USS Midway. Redesignated an Aeronautical Engineering Duty officer (AEDO), he attended the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, from July 1989 until his selection to the astronaut program. He has over 3,430 flight hours in more than 35 different aircraft. NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in January 1990, Bursch became an astronaut in July 1991. His technical assignments to date include: Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch, working on controls and displays for the Space Shuttle and Space Station; Chief of Astronaut Appearances; spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in mission control. A veteran of four space flights, Bursch has logged over 227 days in space. He was a mission specialist on STS-51 (1993), STS-68 (1994) and STS-77 (1996), and served as flight engineer on ISS Expedition-Four (2001-2002). Dan Bursch and fellow astronaut Carl Walz currently hold the U.S. space flight endurance record of 196 days in space. In January 2003, Bursch reported to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA for a two year assignment as an instructor in the Space Systems Academic Group. He left NASA in May 2005, and later retired from active duty in July 2005 after 26 years of service in the US Navy. Bursch joined The Aerospace Corporation in July 2005 and is currently serving as the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Chair at the Naval Postgraduate School. SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-51 launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 12, 1993. During the ten-day mission the crew of five aboard the Shuttle Discovery deployed the U.S. Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), and the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) with NASA and German scientific experiments aboard. Following a spacewalk by two crew members to evaluate Hubble Space Telescope repair tools, the crew initiated rendezvous burns and Bursch recovered the SPAS using the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). The mission concluded on September 22, 1993, with the first night landing at the Kennedy Space Center. Mission duration was 236 hours and 11 minutes.