Charles D. Walker

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Charles Walker
Charles Walker
Country: United States
selected on July 1, 1983
( McDonnell Douglas )
Calls: 3 space flights
Start of the
first space flight: 		August 30, 1984
Landing of the
last space flight: 		3rd December 1985
Time in space: 19d 21h 56min
retired on 3rd December 1985
Space flights

Charles David Walker (born August 29, 1948 in Bedford , Indiana , USA ) is a former American astronaut .

Walker received a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University in 1971 .

After graduating, Walker worked as a civil engineer, land surveyor and forest fire fighter for the United States Forest Service . He then moved to the Bendix Aerospace Company. In 1977 he joined McDonnell Douglas as a test engineer for the propulsion system of the space shuttle . He is a member of the Electrophoresis Operations in Space (EOS) team. He also holds a patent for the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis (CFES) device.

Astronaut activity

From 1979 to 1986, Walker was chief engineer and payload specialist on McDonnell Douglas' EOS project. He supervised the CFES experiment and also instructed other astronauts in the CFES device, which flew into space with the shuttle missions STS-4 , STS-6 , STS-7 and STS-8 . The CFES equipment also accompanied him on his own space flights.

STS-41-D

On his first space flight, Walker was a payload specialist on the maiden flight of the space shuttle Discovery on August 30, 1984. Besides the commander, he and the other four crew members were all space newbies. During the six-day mission, the three satellites SBS-D, SYNCOM IV-2 (also known as LEASAT 2) and Telstar 3-C were deployed . In addition, the OAST-1 solar cell experiment and the CFES-III experiment to study crystal growth were carried out. In addition, recordings were made with an IMAX camera that was carried along . During the mission, dangerous ice sheets had to be removed from the orbiter using the shuttle's robot arm.

STS-51-D

On April 12, 1985, Walker launched into space for the second time as a payload specialist on the space shuttle Discovery . The payload was the two satellites TELESAT-9 and LEASAT-3 . In the latter, however, the automatic commissioning of the antenna and the engine did not work. Despite an exit from space by astronauts Jeffrey Hoffman and David Griggs , this defect could not be repaired.

STS-61-B

On November 27, 1985, Walker launched into space as a payload specialist on the space shuttle Atlantis . During this mission, the three communications satellites MORELOS-B ( Mexico ), AUSSAT-2 ( Australia ) and SATCOM KU-2 were deployed. During two outboard activities, fellow astronauts Jerry Ross and Sherwood Spring tried out methods of assembling structural elements in space.

According to NASA

After leaving NASA, Walker joined Boeing as Senior Manager for Space Programs Development and Marketing . He is also a past president of the National Space Society .

Private

Charles Walker is married with one child.

See also

Web links

Commons : Charles Walker  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Charles D. Walker - Former President, National Space Society. National Space Society, accessed February 24, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Walker, Charles D.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walker, Charles David (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Bedford , Indiana, USA