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Embry-Riddle Alumnus Daniel Burbank to Launch with Space Shuttle Atlantis
Daytona Beach, Fla. , August 31, 2006
BURBANK
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University faculty, staff, and students are on standby to cheer one of their own, NASA astronaut Daniel C. Burbank, when the Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off in early September.
Burbank is a 1990 graduate of Embry-Riddle, with a Master of Aeronautical Science degree from the university’s Langley Center in Virginia.
“It is such a privilege to watch our Embry-Riddle alumni rise to such heights of success or, as with Commander Burbank, launch into the realm of space,” said Martin Smith, chancellor, Embry-Riddle Worldwide. “To be able to live one’s dream is the greatest achievement. To launch that dream into space and beyond defines who we are as a university with a global focus.”
Burbank, who previously flew on STS-106, is a mission specialist with the STS-115 Atlantis crew commanded by Brent W. Jett Jr. With this mission, NASA is ready to get back to building the International Space Station, marking the first time in almost four years that a space station component has been added to the orbiting outpost. During their three spacewalks, Atlantis crew members will install the P3/P4 integrated truss and a second set of solar arrays, doubling the station’s ability to generate power from sunlight and adding 17.5 tons to its mass.
Burbank, a commander in the U.S. Coast Guard and native of Connecticut, has logged over 3,500 flight hours, primarily in Coast Guard helicopters, and has flown more than 1,800 missions including over 300 search and rescue missions. Selected by NASA in 1996, he has worked on technical issues for the Astronaut Office Operations Planning Branch and the International Space Station, in addition to serving as spacecraft communicator for the shuttle and space station.
As a mission specialist on STS-106 Atlantis, Burbank logged over 283 hours in space. During that 12-day mission, the crew prepared the space station for the arrival of the first permanent crew. STS-106 orbited the earth 185 times and covered 4.9 million miles.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. The university educates more than 32,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., and Worldwide at more than 130 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through online learning.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 40 baccalaureate, master's and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and through the Worldwide Campus with more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.
