David M. Walker (astronaut)
| David M. Walker | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Born |
May 20, 1944 Columbus, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | April 23, 2001 (aged 56) Houston, Texas, U.S. |
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Other names
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David Mathieson Walker |
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Other occupation
|
Naval aviator, fighter pilot, test pilot |
| USNA, B.S. 1966 | |
| Rank | Captain, USN |
|
Time in space
|
30d 04h 27m |
| Selection | 1978 NASA Group 8 |
| Missions | STS-51-A, STS-30, STS-53, STS-69 |
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Mission insignia
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| Retirement | April 15, 1996 |
David Mathieson "Dave" Walker (May 20, 1944 – April 23, 2001), (Capt, USN), was an American naval officer and aviator, fighter pilot, test pilot, and a former NASA astronaut. He flew aboard four Space Shuttle missions in the 1980s and 1990s.
Born May 20, 1944, in Columbus, Georgia. He was a Boy Scout and earned its highest rank of Eagle Scout. Died on April 23, 2001 from cancer, Walker was 56 years old and was being treated at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. His wife, the former Paige Lucas, and two adult sons from a previous marriage, Michael and Mathieson, survive him. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on May 24, 2001.
Walker graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and subsequently received flight training from the Naval Air Training Command at bases in Florida, Mississippi, and Texas. He was designated a Naval Aviator in December 1967 and proceeded to Naval Air Station Miramar, California, for assignment to F-4 Phantoms aboard the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and USS America. From December 1970 to 1971, he attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and was subsequently assigned in January 1972 as an experimental and engineering test pilot in the flight test division at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. While there, he participated in the Navy’s preliminary evaluation and Board of Inspection and Survey trials of the F-14 Tomcat and tested a leading edge slat modification to the F-4 Phantom. He then attended the United States Navy Safety Officer School at Monterey, California, and completed replacement pilot training in the F-14 Tomcat at NAS Miramar, California. In 1975, Walker was assigned to Fighter Squadron 142 (VF-142), stationed at NAS Oceana, Virginia, as a fighter pilot and was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea twice aboard the USS America.
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