Daniel W. Bursch
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Daniel Wheeler Bursch (born July 25, 1957) is a former
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
, and
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
. He had four
spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such ...
s, the first three of which were
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
missions lasting 10 to 11 days each. His fourth and final spaceflight was a long-duration stay aboard the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
as a crew member of
Expedition 4 Expedition 4 was the fourth expedition to the International Space Station (7 December 2001 – 15 June 2002). Crew Mission parameters * Perigee: 384 km * Apogee: 396 km * Inclination: 51.6° * Period: 92 min Mission objectives The ...
, which lasted from December 2001 to June 2002. This 196-day mission set a new record for the longest duration spaceflight for an American astronaut, a record simultaneously set with his crew mate
Carl Walz Carl Erwin Walz (born 6 September 1955) is a retired NASA astronaut currently working for Orbital Sciences Corporation's Advanced Programs Group as vice president for Human Space Flight Operations. Walz was formerly assigned to the Exploration ...
. Their record has since been broken, and as of 2016 it is held by Scott Kelly, who flew a 340-day mission during Expeditions 43, 44 and 45.


Education

Bursch graduated from Vestal Senior High School,
Vestal, New York Vestal is a Town (New York), town within Broome County, New York, Broome County in the Southern Tier of New York (state), New York, United States, and lies between the Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania border. As of the 2020 census, the pop ...
, in 1975; received a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in
Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
from the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...
in 1979, and a
Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...
degree in
Engineering Science Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medica ...
from the U.S.
Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...
in 1991.


Navy career

Bursch graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1979, and was designated a Naval Flight Officer in April 1980 at
Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United Sta ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. After initial training as an
A-6E Intruder The Grumman A-6 Intruder is a twinjet all-weather subsonic attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace. It was formerly operated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. The A-6 was designed in res ...
bombardier/navigator (B/N), he reported to VA-34 in January 1981, and deployed to the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
aboard the
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
, and to the
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
and
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
s aboard . 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 A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...
. In April 1987, Bursch was assigned to the commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 1, as strike operations officer, making deployments to the Indian Ocean aboard the
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
and the carrier . Redesignated an Aeronautical Engineering Duty officer (AEDO), he attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in
Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...
, from July 1989 until his selection to the astronaut program. He has flown over 3,430 flight hours in more than 35 different aircraft.


Astronaut career

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 is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
) 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 STS-51 was a NASA Space Shuttle Space Shuttle Discovery, ''Discovery'' mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) in September 1993. Discovery's 17th flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the S ...
(1993),
STS-68 STS-68 was a human spaceflight mission using that launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on September 30, 1994. Crew Launch Launch September 30, 1994, at 7:16:00.068 am EDT from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A. The Launch win ...
(1994) and
STS-77 STS-77 was the 77th Space Shuttle mission and the 11th mission of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. The mission began from launch pad 39B from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 19 May 1996 lasting 10 days and 40 minutes and completing 161 revolut ...
(1996), and served as flight engineer on
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
Expedition 4 Expedition 4 was the fourth expedition to the International Space Station (7 December 2001 – 15 June 2002). Crew Mission parameters * Perigee: 384 km * Apogee: 396 km * Inclination: 51.6° * Period: 92 min Mission objectives The ...
(2001–2002). Dan Bursch and fellow astronaut
Carl Walz Carl Erwin Walz (born 6 September 1955) is a retired NASA astronaut currently working for Orbital Sciences Corporation's Advanced Programs Group as vice president for Human Space Flight Operations. Walz was formerly assigned to the Exploration ...
completed one of the longest U.S. space flights of 196 days in space. In January 2003, Bursch reported to the Naval Postgraduate School 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 U.S. Navy. Bursch joined
The Aerospace Corporation The Aerospace Corporation is an American nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). The corporation provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions to military, civil ...
in July 2005 and is currently serving as the
National Reconnaissance Office The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. f ...
(NRO) Chair at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is also a member of the Board of Directors at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.https://www.starhop.com/board


STS-51

STS-51 STS-51 was a NASA Space Shuttle Space Shuttle Discovery, ''Discovery'' mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) in September 1993. Discovery's 17th flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the S ...
launched from the
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...
, Florida, on September 12, 1993. During the ten-day mission the crew of five aboard the deployed the U.S.
Advanced Communications Technology Satellite STS-51 was a NASA Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) in September 1993. Discovery's 17th flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the SPAS-ORFEUS satellite and ...
(ACTS), and the
Shuttle Pallet Satellite The shuttle pallet satellite was a satellite bus designed to be deployed and then retrieved for return to Earth on NASA's Space Shuttle. It carried a variety of payloads both scientific and military in nature. It was made by Messerschmitt-Bölkow ...
(SPAS) with NASA and German scientific experiments aboard. Following a
spacewalk Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environme ...
by two crew members to evaluate
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...
repair tools, the crew initiated rendezvous burns and Bursch recovered the SPAS using the
Remote Manipulator System Canadarm or Canadarm1 (officially Shuttle Remote Manipulator System or SRMS, also SSRMS) is a series of robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre, and capture payloads. After the Space Shuttle ''Columbia' ...
(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.


STS-68

STS-68 STS-68 was a human spaceflight mission using that launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on September 30, 1994. Crew Launch Launch September 30, 1994, at 7:16:00.068 am EDT from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A. The Launch win ...
, Space Radar Lab-2 (SRL-2), launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 30, 1994. As part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, SRL-2 was the second flight of three advanced radars called SIR-C/X-SAR (Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar), and a carbon-monoxide pollution sensor, MAPS (Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites). SIR-C/X-SAR and MAPS operated together in ''Endeavour''s cargo bay to study Earth's surface and atmosphere, creating radar images of Earth's surface environment and mapping global production and transport of carbon monoxide pollution. Real-time crew observations of environmental conditions, along with over 14,000 photographs aided the science team in interpreting the SRL data. The SRL-2 mission was a highly successful test of technology intended for long-term environmental and geological monitoring of planet Earth. Following 183
orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
s of the Earth, the eleven-day mission ended with Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' landing at
Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, on October 11, 1994. Mission duration was 269 hours and 46 minutes.


STS-77

STS-77 STS-77 was the 77th Space Shuttle mission and the 11th mission of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. The mission began from launch pad 39B from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 19 May 1996 lasting 10 days and 40 minutes and completing 161 revolut ...
launched from the Kennedy Space Center on May 19, 1996. It included the fourth Spacehab module flight as a scientific laboratory, designated SPACEHAB-4. It consisted of 12 separate materials processing, fluid physics and biotechnology experiments, with an emphasis on commercial space product development. STS-77 completed a record four rendezvous in support of two satellites sponsored by the
Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...
, and the SPARTAN 207/Inflatable Antenna Experiment (IAE) and the Passive Aerodynamically stabilized Magnetically damped Satellite/Satellite Test Unit (PAMS/STU). Following 160 orbits of the Earth, the ten-day mission ended with Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' landing at the Kennedy Space Center on May 29, 1996. Mission duration was 240 hours and 39 minutes.


Expedition 4

The
Expedition 4 Expedition 4 was the fourth expedition to the International Space Station (7 December 2001 – 15 June 2002). Crew Mission parameters * Perigee: 384 km * Apogee: 396 km * Inclination: 51.6° * Period: 92 min Mission objectives The ...
crew launched on December 5, 2001 aboard
STS-108 STS-108 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Endeavour''. Its primary objective was to deliver supplies to and help maintain the ISS. STS-108 was the 12th shuttle flight to visit the In ...
and docked with the International Space Station on December 7, 2001. During a 6½ month stay aboard the Space Station, the
Expedition 4 Expedition 4 was the fourth expedition to the International Space Station (7 December 2001 – 15 June 2002). Crew Mission parameters * Perigee: 384 km * Apogee: 396 km * Inclination: 51.6° * Period: 92 min Mission objectives The ...
crew of three (two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut) performed flight tests of the station hardware, conducted internal and external maintenance tasks, and developed the capability of the station to support the addition of science experiments. The crew spent 196 days in space establishing a U.S. space flight endurance record for Dan Bursch and crew mate
Carl Walz Carl Erwin Walz (born 6 September 1955) is a retired NASA astronaut currently working for Orbital Sciences Corporation's Advanced Programs Group as vice president for Human Space Flight Operations. Walz was formerly assigned to the Exploration ...
. Wearing the Russian Orlan spacesuit, Bursch logged 11 hours and 48 minutes of EVA time in two separate spacewalks. The Expedition-Four crew returned to Earth aboard
STS-111 STS-111 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. STS-111 resupplied the station and replaced the Expedition 4 crew with the Expedition 5 crew. It was launched on 5 June 2002, fr ...
, with ''Endeavour'' landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 19, 2002.


Special honors

Awarded the
Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...
,
NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...
s, the
Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...
and the
Navy Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to rece ...
. Distinguished graduate, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.


Personal life

Daniel Bursch was born in
Bristol, Pennsylvania Bristol is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City in Philadelphia opposite Burlington, New Jersey, on the Delaware River. Bristol was s ...
, but he considers
Vestal, New York Vestal is a Town (New York), town within Broome County, New York, Broome County in the Southern Tier of New York (state), New York, United States, and lies between the Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania border. As of the 2020 census, the pop ...
, to be his hometown. He has four children, two daughters and two sons, and two grandchildren, and he is married to Sharon Yencharis.


References


External links


Dan Bursch's Personal Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bursch, Daniel W. 1957 births Living people United States Navy astronauts Crew members of the International Space Station People from Bristol, Pennsylvania People from Vestal, New York United States Naval Academy alumni United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni Naval Postgraduate School alumni Naval Postgraduate School faculty United States Navy officers United States Naval Flight Officers United States Naval Aviators Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Space Shuttle program astronauts Spacewalkers Military personnel from Pennsylvania