Rex J. Walheim | |
---|---|
NASA astronaut | |
Nationality | American |
Status | Active |
Born |
Redwood City, California, U.S. |
October 10, 1962
Other occupation
|
Military Officer |
Rank | Colonel, USAF |
Time in space
|
36d 08h 31m |
Selection | 1996 NASA Group |
Missions | STS-110, STS-122, STS-135 |
Mission insignia
|
Rex Joseph Walheim (born October 10, 1962) is a United States Air Force officer, engineer and a NASA astronaut. He has flown three space shuttle missions, STS-110, STS-122, and STS-135. Rex has logged over 566 hours in space, including 36 hours and 23 minutes of spacewalk (EVA) time. He was assigned as mission specialist and flight engineer on STS-135, the final space shuttle mission.
Walheim was born in Redwood City, California, but considers San Carlos, California, his hometown.
Walheim graduated from San Carlos High School in 1980 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984. He then received a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Houston in 1989.
Walheim was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force in May 1984. In April 1985 he was assigned to Cavalier Air Force Station in Cavalier, North Dakota, where he worked as a missile warning operations crew commander. In October 1986, he was reassigned to the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, where he worked as a mechanical systems flight controller and was the lead operations engineer for the Space Shuttle landing gear, brakes, and emergency runway barrier.