Daniel W. Bursch

Daniel W. Bursch
NASA Astronaut
Nationality	American
Status	Retired
Born	(1957-07-25) July 25, 1957 (age 59) Bristol, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names	Daniel Wheeler Bursch
Other occupation	Engineer
Alma mater	USNA, B.S. 1979 NPS, M.S. 1991
Rank	Captain, USN
Time in space	226d 22h 16m
Selection	1990 NASA Group 13
Missions	STS-51, STS-68, STS-77, Expedition 4 (STS-108 / STS-111)
Mission insignia

Daniel Wheeler Bursch (born July 25, 1957) is a former NASA astronaut, and Captain of the United States Navy. He had four spaceflights, the first three of which were Space Shuttle missions lasting 10 to 11 days each. His fourth and final spaceflight was a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station as a crew member of Expedition 4, 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. This record has since been broken, and as of 2010 it is held by Michael Lopez-Alegria, who had a 215-day spaceflight as Commander of Expedition 14.

Graduated from Vestal Senior High School, Vestal, New York, in 1975; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the United States Naval Academy in 1979, and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Science from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1991.

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, Florida. After initial training as an A-6E Intruder bombardier/navigator (B/N), he reported to VA-34 in January 1981, and deployed to the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, and to the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans aboard 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, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 1, as Strike Operations Officer, making deployments to the Indian Ocean aboard the cruiser USS Long Beach and the carrier USS Midway. Redesignated an Aeronautical Engineering Duty officer (AEDO), he attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, from July 1989 until his selection to the astronaut program.