Embry-Riddle Alumnus Daniel Burbank to Fly Space Shuttle Mission to International Space Station
Four Other Embry-Riddle Graduates Selected as Astronaut Candidates
 Daytona Beach, Fla., Aug. 4, 2000 -- U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Daniel C. Burbank, the second graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to become an astronaut, will fly as a NASA mission specialist on the space shuttle Atlantis for an 11-day mission beginning Sept. 8, 2000. Burbank received a master of aeronautical science degree in 1990 from the university's Extended Campus teaching center at Langley Air Force Base, Va. The Extended Campus educates students at more than 100 civilian and military teaching sites in the United States and Europe and through distance learning.
The other members of the STS-106 crew are Terrence W. Wilcutt, commander; Scott D. Altman, pilot; Edward T. Lu and Richard A. Mastracchio, mission specialists; and Yuri I. Malenchenko and Boris V. Morukov, mission specialists from the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.
 The goal of the STS-106 mission is to prepare the International Space Station (ISS) for its first permanent resident crew, scheduled to launch in late October. Burbank and his colleagues will transfer supplies to the ISS and make other preparations for future construction flights. They will also outfit the newly arrived Zvezda service module and perform at least one space walk related to the module.
NASA selected Burbank for its astronaut training program in 1996. Before assignment to STS-106, he worked on technical issues for the operations planning branch of the Astronaut Office and for the ISS.
Burbank attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, receiving a B.S. degree in electrical engineering as well as his commission in 1985. He was assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Gallatin as deck watch officer and law enforcement/boarding officer. In 1987, he reported to naval flight training at Pensacola, Fla., and graduated in 1988.
Burbank was then assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., where he became an aircraft commander in the HH-3F Pelican and then an aircraft commander/instructor pilot in the HH-60J Jayhawk. While at Elizabeth City, he completed training in aviation maintenance/administration in preparation for assignment as an aeronautical engineering officer.
In 1992, Burbank was assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., as the rotary wing engineering officer and HH-60J aircraft commander/instructor pilot. In 1995, he was assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Alaska, as the aeronautical engineering officer and HH-60J aircraft commander.
Burbank has logged more than 3,000 flight hours, primarily in Coast Guard helicopters, and has flown more than 1,800 missions, including more than 300 search-and-rescue missions.
Embry-Riddle's first graduate to become an astronaut was Susan L. (Still) Kilrain, who received a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the university's Daytona Beach, Fla., campus in 1982. After graduation, Kilrain worked as a wind tunnel engineer for Lockheed Corp., received a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and became a fighter jet flight instructor in the U.S. Navy.
In 1995, she was selected by NASA for astronaut training. Kilrain piloted the space shuttle Columbia on missions STS-83 and STS-94, both in 1997, and accumulated more than 471 hours of space flight. Currently, Kilrain is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and the spacecraft communicator in NASA Mission Control during shuttle launch and entry.
Four other Embry-Riddle graduates have been selected for the 17-member astronaut candidate class of 2000, and began a period of training and evaluation in August 2000 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Receiving training as pilots are U.S. Air Force Maj. Ronald J. Garan Jr., who earned a master of aeronautical science degree in 1994, and U.S. Air Force Capt. Terry W. Virts Jr., who earned that same degree in 1997. Receiving training as mission specialists are U.S. Air Force Maj. B. Alvin Drew, who earned a master of aeronautical science degree in 1995, and Nicole P. Stott, who earned a B.S. in aeronautical engineering in 1987. Drew, Garan, and Virts received their degrees from Embry-Riddle's Extended Campus, and Stott from the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus.
Embry-Riddle, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates 22,000 students through the master's level at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., at more than 100 teaching sites in the United States and Europe, and through distance learning.
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