'Daniel Christopher Burbank' (born
27 July 1961) is an
American astronaut and a veteran of two
space shuttle missions. Burbank, a Captain in the
United States Coast Guard, is the second Coast Guard astronaut (the first was
Bruce Melnick).
Burbank, born in
Manchester, Connecticut and raised in
Tolland, Connecticut, where he graduated from
Tolland High School. He attended the
United States Coast Guard Academy, earning his commission in
1985. In
1987, he went through flight training and became an instructor pilot, serving at various Coast Guard stations in
Elizabeth City, North Carolina,
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and
Sitka, Alaska.
NASA selected him as an astronaut candidate in
1996 and flew as a mission specialist aboard
STS-106 in
2000. He was a mission specialist on
STS-115, which launched on
September 9,
2006 and returned to Earth on
September 21,
2006. Burbank made his first spacewalk on September 13, during a 7 hour EVA to activate the solar panels on the
International Space Station's new P3/4 truss.
Dan Burbank is listed as a member of the astronaut band "
Max Q", and a former member of
The Idlers.
He has a master's degree in aeronautical science from
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
He is a licensed
Amateur radio operator (ham) with Technician License KC5ZSX.
External links
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NASA Biography
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Spacefacts biography of Daniel C. Burbank
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QRZ.com Ham License information for Daniel Burbank
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Story: Five Radio Amateurs Now Aboard ISS
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Reservist Magazine