Charles D. Walker
| Charles D. Walker | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| McDonnell Douglas Payload Specialist | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Retired |
| Born |
August 29, 1948 Bedford, Indiana, U.S. |
|
Other names
|
Charles David Walker |
|
Other occupation
|
Engineer |
| Purdue University, B.S. 1971 | |
|
Time in space
|
14d 20h 20m |
| Missions | STS-41-D, STS-51-D, STS-61-B |
|
Mission insignia
|
  
|
Charles David "Charlie" Walker (born August 29, 1948) is an American engineer who flew on three Space Shuttle missions in 1984 and 1985 as a Payload Specialist for the McDonnell Douglas Corporation. He is the first non-government individual to fly in space.
Born in Bedford, Indiana, Walker is married to the former Susan Y. Flowers, of Joplin, Missouri. They have one daughter, Catherine Lunde, one grandson, Jacob Lunde and one granddaughter, Haley Farr.
Recreational interests include photography, running, hiking, scuba diving, reading, collecting books on space, and bonsai.
Following graduation from Purdue University he worked as a civil engineering technician, land acquisition specialist and forest firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. Subsequently, he was a design engineer with the Bendix Aerospace Company where he worked on aerodynamic analysis, missile subsystem design, and flight testing. He also was employed as project engineer with the Naval Sea Systems Command with responsibility for computer-controlled manufacturing systems.
Walker applied for the 1978 astronaut class but was unsuccessful, as he was neither affiliated with a major university nor had a PhD. He saw the new Payload Specialist program as another way to fly in space, and sought a job that might give him the opportunity to serve as one. He joined the McDonnell Douglas Corporation in 1977 as a test engineer on the Aft Propulsion Subsystem for the Space Shuttle orbiters. He joined the Space Manufacturing (later named Electrophoresis Operations in Space, EOS) team as one of its original members. He shares in a patent for the McDonnell Douglas-developed continuous flow electrophoresis (CFES) device. McDonnell Douglas' main partner was Ortho Pharmaceutical, which hoped to manufacture large amounts of purified erythropoietin in space.
...
Wikipedia