Mario received a bachelor of science degree in Earth and Planetary Science from the City College of New York in 1974, a master of science degree in Atmospheric Physics from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1976, and an honorary doctor of science degree from the City College of New York in 1999.
After graduating from Rutgers, Mario became a commissioned officer in the Navy. He served as a research meteorologist at the Naval Research Lab in Monterey, California and aboard the Amphibious Assault Ship USS NASSAU (LHA-4). From January 1984 to December 1985, he worked as a laboratory instructor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. From December 1985 to December 1986, he served as Commanding Officer of Oceanographic Unit 4 and the Naval Survey Vessel USNS CHAUVENET (T- AGS 29), conducting hydrographic and oceanographic surveys of the Java Sea and Indian Ocean. His last assignment within the Navy was as Fleet Environmental Services Officer, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in June 1987, Runco qualified for assignment as an astronaut mission specialist in August of 1988. A veteran of three space flights (STS-44 in 1991, STS-54 in 1993, and STS-77 in 1996), Mario has logged over 551 hours in space which includes a 4.5 hour spacewalk during his STS-54 mission. On STS-77, Mario conducted a number of technology development experiments as well as a suite of microgravity science experiments. Mario also filmed some additional Physics of Toys scenes for a sequel to the original educational video and subsequently made several appearances on the children’s television show Sesame Street.
Mario currently serves as an Earth and Planetary Scientist, as the Lead for Science and Utilization of the International Space Station’s Destiny Module Science Window and the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF) both of which he helped design, as the Project Manager for the Lunar Habitation Systems Project Fast Track., and as the JSC lead for spacecraft window optical requirements.