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Bresnik, Randolph James

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Bresnik Credit: www.spacefacts.de

Status: Active 2004-on. Born: 1967-09-11. Spaceflights: 2 . Total time in space: 149.51 days. Birth Place: Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Educated Citadel; Tennessee-Knoxville.

Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:RANDOLPH J. €œKomrade€� BRESNIK (COLONEL, U.S. Marine Corps)
NASA Astronaut

Pronunciation: RAN-dolf BRES-nick

PERSONAL DATA:  Born September 11, 1967 in Fort Knox, Kentucky.  Considers Santa Monica, California to be his hometown.  Married to the former Rebecca Burgin of Pompton Plains, New Jersey, they have a son and a daughter.  He enjoys travel, music, photography, weight training, sports, scuba diving, motorcycling, and flying warbirds.  His father Albert 'Randy' Bresnik resides in Santa Monica, California.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, California, 1985.  Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina, 1989.  Master of Science in Aviation Systems, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, 2002.  Graduate of Air War College, 2008.

ORGANIZATIONS:  Associate Fellow, Society of Experimental Test Pilots;  Association of Space Explorers;  Association of Naval Aviation.

MILITARY AWARDS:  Legion of Merit; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal; three Strike/Flight Air Medals; three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals with Combat €œV€�; three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals; Presidential Unit Citation and various other service awards.

SPECIAL HONORS: Distinguished Graduate: The Citadel Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC), Officer Candidate School, The Basic School, Navy Flight Training;  €œIron Mike€� Physical Fitness Award, U.S. Marine Corps Officer Basic School;  The Outstanding Student Award, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School;  Empire Test Pilot School Award, United States Naval Test Pilot School;  Stephen A. Hazelrigg Memorial Award for Best Test Pilot/Engineer Team, Naval Strike Aircraft Test Squadron;  €œBest Presentation€� Award, European Society of Experimental Test Pilots Symposium;  Honorary Doctor of Aeronautics from The Citadel, 2010.

EXPERIENCE:  Bresnik received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the  U.S. Marine Corps from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at The Citadel in May 1989.  After graduation, he attended The Basic School (TBS) and Infantry Officers Course (IOC) in Quantico, Virginia.  He attended primary flight training in Pensacola, Florida, Intermediate and Advanced flight training in Beeville, Texas, and was designated a Naval Aviator in 1992.  He completed initial F/A-18 training at Navy Fighter/Attack Training Squadron VFA-106, NAS Cecil Field, Florida.  Upon completion of training, he reported to Marine Fighter/Attack Squadron, VMFA-212 at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, then MCAS El Toro, California, and additionally MCAS Miramar, California, where he made three overseas deployments to the Western Pacific.  While assigned to VMFA-212, he attended the Marine Corps Weapons and Tactics Instructors Course (WTI) and Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN).  Bresnik was selected for U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland and began the course in January 1999.  After graduation in December 1999, he was assigned as a F/A-18 Test Pilot/Project Officer at the Naval Strike Aircraft Test Squadron (NSATS).  While at Strike, Bresnik flew the F/A-18 A-D and F/A-18 E/F in all manners of flight test.  In January 2001, he returned to the USNTPS as a Fixed-Wing and Systems Flight Instructor where he instructed in the F/A-18, T-38, and T-2.  Bresnik returned to NSATS in January 2002 to continue flight test on the F/A-18 A-F as the Platform/Project Coordinator.  In November 2002, he reported to Marine Aircraft Group Eleven (MAG-11) as the Future Operations Officer.  In January 2003, MAG-11 deployed to Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait.  From Al Jaber, he flew combat missions in the F/A-18 with VMFA-225 in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He was the Operations Officer of VMFA-232 when he was selected as an astronaut.

He has logged more than 5,800 hours in 81 types of aircraft.  He holds an Airline Transport Pilot Rating and an Unlimited Piston Engine Letter of Authorization.

NASA EXPERIENCE:  Selected as an astronaut by NASA in May 2004.  In February 2006, he completed Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training.  Bresnik completed his first spaceflight on STS-129 in November 2009.  In 2010, Bresnik trained as a cave-a-naut in the extreme environment training of  the European Space Agency's Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behavior and performance Skills (CAVES), in Sardina, Italy.  This was the first spaceflight analog of its type living deep beneath the surface of the Earth.   

In September 2014, Bresnik, his three crew members and two habitat technicians tested technologies and training techniques for use aboard the International Space Station and future deep space exploration missions during NASA's Extreme Environment Mission Operation (NEEMO 19). Bresnik was the Commander of NEEMO 19 team of aquanauts. The mission was conducted in Florida International University's undersea research habitat the Aquarius Reef Base, located six miles off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, and 62 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

SPACEFLIGHT EXPERIENCE:  STS-129 (November 16 through November 29, 2009) was the 31st shuttle flight to the International Space Station.  During the mission, the crew delivered two Express Logistics Carriers (ELC racks) to the space station, approximately 30,000 pounds of replacement parts for systems that provide power to the station to keep it from overheating, and maintain proper orientation in space.  Bresnik performed two spacewalks for a total of 11 hours and 50 minutes.  The STS-129 mission was completed in 10 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes and 13 seconds, traveling 4.5 million miles in 171 orbits, and returned to Earth bringing back with them NASA astronaut Nicole Stott following her tour of duty aboard the station.

SEPTEMBER 2014

Official NASA Biography - May 2004

Randy Bresnik, Pilot

AGE: 36

BORN: Fort Knox, Kentucky

EDUCATION: BS, Mathematics, The Citadel, 1989; MS, Aviation Systems, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, 2002

CURRENT JOB: Operations Officer, F/A-18 Pilot, MCAS Miramar, San Diego, CA

QUICK FACT: Is getting married in May in a castle in Scotland.

QUOTE: "What I hope to accomplish is to contribute to the NASA team. What more exciting thing can you do?"

Randy Bresnik had been hoping that his next assignment as a U.S. Marine Corps test pilot would be to test a next-generation aircraft. To be selected to help develop a next-generation spacecraft instead, he says, "Holy smokes! That's a dream."

Bresnik, a Marine major, is currently a F/A-18 pilot with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at MCAS Miramar in San Diego, California. He is approaching 3000 hours of flight experience, including a recent tour in the war in Iraq. "We were there from before day one until the president declared an official end to hostilities," he says.

Bresnik says that he and his dad, a former military pilot in Vietnam, used to build models together when he was a child, including a model of a Gemini capsule with a spacewalker tethered outside. "As a kid, flying in space seems so impossible," he says.

But for a grown-up Bresnik, it is becoming a reality. He is one of two people selected to train as pilot astronauts in the 2004 astronaut candidate class, an assignment that could include development and testing work on the Crew Exploration Vehicle. He reports for training this summer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

He was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky but moved to southern California when he was just two weeks old. Bresnik graduated from Santa Monica High School before attending The Citadel, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in mathematics. He also holds a Master's degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Growing up in Santa Monica, Bresnik was the only boy in a family with four children. "I had a number of people in my life -- great teachers -- who were pretty influential. I remember a 6th grade teacher, a guidance counselor in junior high, a music teacher in college, all of whom went above and beyond. I've been thinking about them. Would they believe it for a moment that I've been selected to train as an astronaut?"

Bresnik, 36, is getting married at a castle in Scotland in May to a civilian lawyer he met while she was working at the Pentagon. "She's an extraordinary woman. She stuck with me when I got deployed for the war," he says. "We got engaged last July on a boat in the middle of a lake in Idaho."

Bresnik says he is looking forward to helping to fulfill the new Vision for Space Exploration. "What I hope to accomplish is to contribute to the NASA team," he says. "What more exciting thing can you do?"

• Birth of Randolph James 'Randy' Bresnik - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Bresnik. American test pilot astronaut, 2004-on. 2 spaceflights, 149.5 days in space. Flew to orbit on STS-129 (2009), Soyuz MS-05..

• NASA Astronaut Training Group 19 selected. - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Acaba, Arnold, Ricky, Bresnik, Cassidy, Dutton, Hernandez, Kimbrough, Marshburn, Metcalf-Lindenburger, Satcher, Walker, Shannon.

  The group was selected to provide pilot and mission specialists for post-ISS spaceflights to the moon and beyond. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

  Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Due to a surplus of astronauts and a dearth of missions, NASA cancelled the planned 2002 astronaut selection. The next call for applications was made in May 2003, with a due date of 1 July. 'Educator astronauts' were especially requested, and 1100 applications were received in this category. The final selection was two pilots and nine mission specialists; nine men and two women. Given the drastic reduction if shuttle flights and ISS crew size planned for the post-Columbia disaster period, the chances for astronauts from this group flying in the next decade seemed slim indeed. Also training in this group were three NASDA astronauts from Japan.

• STS-129 - . Call Sign: Atlantis. Crew: Bresnik, Foreman, Hobaugh, Melvin, Satcher, Wilmore. Payload: Atlantis F31 / ExPRESS Logistics Carrier. Mass: 120,848 kg (266,424 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: Soyuz TMA-15, Soyuz TMA-16, STS-129. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Atlantis. Duration: 10.80 days. Decay Date: 2009-11-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 36094 . COSPAR: 2009-062A. Apogee: 348 km (216 mi). Perigee: 336 km (208 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min.

  The mission was to deliver and place spare components outside the ISS station. The 11-day flight included three spacewalks. The payload bay carried two large ExPRESS Logistics Carriers holding two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly, a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, a spare trailing umbilical system for the Mobile Transporter, and a high-pressure gas tank.

• EVA STS-129-2 - . Crew: Bresnik, Foreman. EVA Duration: 0.26 days. Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Flight: Soyuz TMA-15, Soyuz TMA-16, STS-129. Installed the GATOR (Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing) bracket to the Columbus laboratory and an additional ham radio antenna. Installed on the truss an antenna for wireless helmet camera video. Relocated the Floating Potential Measurement Unit that .

• EVA STS-129-3 - . Crew: Bresnik, Satcher. EVA Duration: 0.24 days. Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Flight: Soyuz TMA-15, Soyuz TMA-16, STS-129. Installed new High Pressure Gas Tank (HPGT) on Quest airlock. Installed MISSE-7A and 7B on ELC-2. Strapped two micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) shields to External Stowage Platform #2. Relocated foot restraint, released a bolt on Ammonia Tank Asse.

• Soyuz MS-04 - . Call Sign: Olympus. Crew: Yurchikhin, Fischer. Backup Crew: Ryazansky, Bresnik. Return Crew: Yurchikhin, Fischer, Whitson. Nation: Russia. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz MS-04. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz MS. Decay Date: 2017-09-03 . USAF Sat Cat: 42682 . COSPAR: 2017-020A. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 92.66 min.

  See Soyuz-MS 04. Soyuz MS-04 docked with the ISS Poisk module 6hr 4min after launch. Soyuz commander was Fyodor Yurchikin and flight engineer was Jack Fischer. This was the first two-person Soyuz mission in 14 years (Soyuz TMA-2 in Apr 2003), as Russia scaled back its ISS crew pending completion of the delayed Nauka module.

• Soyuz MS-05 - . Call Sign: Borei. Crew: Ryazansky, Bresnik, Nespoli. Backup Crew: Misurkin, Vande Hai, Kanai. Return Crew: Ryazansky, Bresnik, Nespoli. Payload: Soyuz 11F732A48 No. 736. Nation: Russia. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz MS-05. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz MS. USAF Sat Cat: 42898 . COSPAR: 2017-043A. Apogee: 407 km (252 mi). Perigee: 403 km (250 mi). Inclination: 51.64 deg. Period: 92.66 min. See Soyuz-MS 05. ..

• EVA ISS US EVA-41 - . Crew: Bresnik, Vande Hei. EVA Duration: 0.29 days. Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Replaced Latching End Effector (LEE-A) on Canadarm2, removed multi-layer insulation from a spare direct current switching unit, prepared a flex hose rotary coupler..

• EVA ISS US EVA-42 - . Crew: Bresnik, Vande Hei. EVA Duration: 0.27 days. Nation: USA. Program: ISS.

  Finished Repairs to Canadarm 2 added lubricating oil to all the working parts, Replaced the Station's Cameras which are used to film NASA TV, Installed Lens Covers, Closed and Locked a Latch on the High Pressure Gas Tanks, Rotated a Pump Module in preparation for relocating to P6 on a future spacewalk, Changed the Sockets on the degraded Latching End Effector and Reinstalled them on the new unit on Canadarm 2, Removed Handrails on Tranquility in preparation for installation of the EWS Antennas on a future spacewalk.

• EVA ISS US EVA-43 - . Crew: Bresnik, Acaba. EVA Duration: 0.28 days. Nation: USA. Program: ISS.

  Finished Repairs to Canadarm 2 added lubricating oil to all working parts and installed a camera and replaced a degraded one, Replaced the Station's Cameras which are used to film NASA TV, Replaced a Blown Fuse on Dextre, Removed MLI from two ORUs stored on ESP2 in preparation for them to be moved by Dextre later this year. Three get ahead task were performed by the crew MLI was removed from the Pump Modules on ESP2 Bresnik almost got the second one, but time expired and he had to close the flap on the second Pump Module it will be moved on the next spacewalk, Installed the Radiator Grapple Bars delivered on SpaceX CRS2.