North Dakota NASA astronaut receives Rough Rider Award

BISMARCK, N.D. ( KXNET ) — The North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award is one of the highest honors that a North Dakotan can receive.

Tuesday, July 30th, Governor Doug Burgum gave James Buchli, a NASA astronaut, The Rough Rider Award. Buchli was born in New Rockford, North Dakota, and graduated from Fargo Central High School. He went on to the Marine Corps as an aviator in the Vietnam War. He then became a NASA astronaut and has been a trailblazer with his groundbreaking achievements as the first North Dakotan to fly in space.

On his four space flights, Buchli has orbited the Earth 319 times and has spent more than 20 days in space. Buchli has received the Defense Service Superior medal, The Legion Merit, The Purple Heart, and he was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2019. Those are only a few awards to name, and now, Buchli is the 49th recipient of the Rough Rider Award.

On Tuesday, the University of North Dakota, along with the Governor hosted an award ceremony honoring the NASA North Dakotan.

“Successfully deployed over 400 miles above the surface with the goal of studying humanity’s effect on the atmosphere. It was the first major element to planet Earth; multiyear global research that used the ground, airborne, and space instruments that study Earth’s complete environment. That mission, his 4th mission, 81 revolutions around the Earth, traveling over 2 point 2 million miles was the first flight to have an electric camera in space and many other achievements,” exclaimed Governor Burgum.

“North Dakota is a unique place. All of us that have come from there have benefitted greatly. I think Teddy Roosevelt did say it right, and he said, ‘If it were not for the time I spent in North Dakota, I would have never been president,’ and I think that’s probably true for a lot of us. If it wasn’t for the time that we spent in North Dakota, we would have not done some of the things that we’ve been able to do in our careers and our life,” said Buchli.

After Buchli accepted his award, he presented Governor Burgum with a North Dakota state flag that Buchli had flown into space in 1985 which will now be placed in the care of the State Historical Society. Buchli’s portrait, painted by Minot-based artist, Verk Skaug will go up in the State Capitol Building alongside Virgil Hill, in the Rough Rider Hall of Fame on Wednesday, July 31st.

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