ISN Captain 1st rank;
NASA Astronaut

BIRTH DATA AND PLACE: July 25, 1957, Bristol, Pennsylvania, USA, but considers Vestal, New York, to be his hometown.
His father, Dudley Bursch, resides in Stuart, Florida.
His mother, Betsy Bursch, is deceased.

EDUCATION: 
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 US Naval Postgraduate School in 1991.

MARITAL STATUS: married to Roni J. Patterson, has four children.

SPECIAL HONORS:
Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal, NASA Space Flight Medals. 
One of Distinguished Graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.

HOBBIES: tennis, softball, windsurfing, skiing, and woodworking.

EXPERIENCE:
Upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1979, he was designated a naval flight officer for service at Pensacola Naval Base, 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. In 1984 he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Upon graduation from the School he served as a project test flight officer flying the A-6E Intruder aircraft until August 1984, after which he returned to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School as a flight instructor.
In April 1987, Bursch was assigned to the Commander, and participated in deployments to the Indian Ocean aboard the USS Long Beach and the USS Midway. Designated 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 2,900 flight hours in more than 35 different types of aircraft.
Selected by NASA as a candidate astronaut in January 1990, Bursch became an astronaut in July 1991. He worked in the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch, working on controls and displays for the Space Shuttle and Space Station Programs; as Chief of Astronaut Appearances; as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center. A veteran of three space flights, Bursch has logged over 746 hours in space.
On September 12-22, 1993, Bursch took his first space flight as a mission specialist of the Discovery crew (STS-51). Mission duration was 236 hours and 11 minutes.
From September 30 to October 11, 1994, he took his second flight as a mission specialist of the Endeavor crew (STS-68) with Space Radar Lab-2 (SRL-2) in the shuttle cargo bay. Mission duration was 269 hours and 46 minutes.
On May 19-29, 1996, he took his third space flight as a mission specialist of the Endeavor crew (STS-77) with the Spacehab module in the shuttle cargo bay. Mission duration was 240 hours and 39 minutes.
Assigned to the fourth crew scheduled to live on the International Space Station.

May 2000
Based on NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center materials (USA)