Daniel W . Bursch 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 . Education . 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 Naval Postgraduate School in 1991 . Navy career . Bursch graduated from the United States 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 , and to the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans aboard the . 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 and the . 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 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 ) 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 International Space Station Expedition 4 ( 2001 – 2002 ) . Dan Bursch and fellow astronaut Carl Walz 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 in July 2005 and is currently serving as the National Reconnaissance Office ( NRO ) Chair at the Naval Postgraduate School . STS - 51 . STS - 51 launched from the Kennedy Space Center , Florida , on September 12 , 1993 . During the ten - day mission the crew of five aboard the 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 . STS - 68 . STS - 68 , 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 s of the Earth , the eleven - day mission ended with Space Shuttle " Endeavour " landing at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on October 11 , 1994 . Mission duration was 269 hours and 46 minutes . STS - 77 . STS - 77 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 , 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 crew launched on December 5 , 2001 aboard STS - 108 and docked with the International Space Station on December 7 , 2001 . During a 6½ month stay aboard the Space Station , the Expedition 4 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 . 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 , with " Endeavour " landing at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on June 19 , 2002 . Special honors . Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal , NASA Space Flight Medal s , the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal . Distinguished graduate , U . S . Naval Academy and U . S . Naval Test Pilot School . Personal life . Bursch was born in Bristol , Pennsylvania , but considers Vestal , New York , to be his hometown . Single . Four children , two boys and two girls . One grandchild .