Col. James F. Buchli

USMC (Ret)

Born and raised in North Dakota (graduating from Fargo Central High School, Class of '63), astronaut James F. Buchli has flown on four space shuttle missions and has orbited the earth 319 times, traveling 7.74 million miles in 20 days, 10 hours, 25 minutes, and 32 seconds. He was a member of crew support for STS-1 and STS-2, and served as Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office between 1989 and 1992. After retiring from the Marine Corps and the astronaut office in 1992, Mr. Buchli went to work for The Boeing Company to design and construct the International Space Station. He then transferred to United Space Alliance to manage the operations and utilization activities in support of NASA. Finally, in 2006 James Buchli led the Oceaneering Space Systems program for the design and development of a new space suit. He retired as a Vice President from Oceaneering in 2010.