Joseph A. Walker
Joseph A. Walker | |
---|---|
X-15 Flight 77, X-15 Flight 90, X-15 Flight 91 | |
Retirement | August 22, 1963 |
Joseph Albert Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) (
In 1961, Walker became the first human in the mesosphere when piloting Flight 35, and in 1963, Walker made three flights above 50 miles, thereby qualifying as an astronaut according to the United States definition of the boundary of space. The latter two, X-15 Flights 90 and 91, also surpassed the Kármán line, the internationally accepted boundary of 100 kilometers (62.14 miles). Making the latter flights immediately after the completion of the Mercury and Vostok programs, Walker became the first person to fly to space twice. He was the only X-15 pilot to fly above 100 km during the program.
Walker died in a group formation accident on June 8, 1966.
Early life
Born in
Career
Military service
During World War II, Walker flew the
Test pilot career
After World War II, Walker separated from the Army Air Forces and joined the
Walker served for 15 years at the Edwards Flight Research Facility – now called the
Other research aircraft that he flew were the
Walker was the chief project pilot for the X-3 program. Walker reportedly considered the X-3 to be the worst airplane that he ever flew. In addition to research aircraft, Walker flew many chase planes during test flights of other aircraft, and he also flew in programs that involved the North American F-100 Super Sabre, McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and Boeing B-47 Stratojet.[citation needed]
X-15 program
In 1958, Walker was one of the pilots selected for the U.S. Air Force's
Walker was the first American civilian to make any spaceflight,
Walker flew at his highest speed in the X-15A-1: 4,104 mph (6,605 km/h) (Mach 5.92) during Flight 59 on June 27, 1962 (the fastest flight in any of the three X-15s was about 4,520 mph (7,274 km/h) (Mach 6.7) during Flight 188 flown by William J. Knight on October 3, 1967).[10]
LLRV program
Walker also became the first test pilot of the Bell Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), which was used to develop piloting and operational techniques for lunar landings. On October 30, 1964, Walker took the LLRV on its maiden flight, reaching an altitude of about 10 ft and a total flight time of just under one minute.[11] He piloted 35 LLRV flights in total. Neil Armstrong later flew this craft many times in preparation for the spaceflight of Apollo 11 – the first human landing on the Moon – including crashing it once and barely escaping from it with his ejection seat.[12]
Death
Walker was killed on June 8, 1966, when his F-104N Starfighter chase aircraft collided with a North American XB-70 Valkyrie.[13] At an altitude of about 25,000 ft (7.6 km)[14] Walker's Starfighter was one of five aircraft in a tight group formation for a General Electric publicity photo when his F-104 drifted into contact with the XB-70's right wingtip. The F-104 flipped over, and, rolling inverted, passed over the top of the XB-70, striking both its vertical stabilizers and its left wing in the process, and exploded, killing Walker.[N 2] The Valkyrie entered an uncontrollable spin and crashed into the ground north of Barstow, California, killing co-pilot Carl Cross. Its pilot, Alvin White, one of Walker's colleagues from the Man In Space Soonest program, ejected and was the sole survivor.
The USAF summary report of the accident investigation stated that, given the position of the F-104 relative to the XB-70, the F-104 pilot would not have been able to see the XB-70's wing, except by uncomfortably looking back over his left shoulder. The report stated that it was likely that Walker, piloting the F-104, maintained his position by looking at the fuselage of the XB-70, forward of his position.[16][17]
The F-104 was estimated to be 70 ft (20 m) to the side of, and 10 ft (3 m) below, the fuselage of the XB-70. The report concluded that from that position, without appropriate sight cues, Walker was unable to properly perceive his motion relative to the Valkyrie, leading to his aircraft drifting into contact with the XB-70's wing.[17][16]
The accident investigation also pointed to the wake vortex off the XB-70's right wingtip as the reason for the F-104's sudden roll over and into the bomber.[16] A sixth plane in the incident was a civilian Learjet 23 that held the photographer. Because the formation flight and photo were unauthorized, the careers of several Air Force colonels ended as a result of this aviation accident.[18][19][20]
Awards and honors
Walker was a charter member and one of the first Fellows of the
Walker was inducted into the
On August 23, 2005, NASA officially conferred on Walker his
Star Trek starship designer John Eaves created the Walker-class starships named for Joseph Walker that first appeared in the 2017 TV series Star Trek: Discovery, including USS Shenzhou.[26]
See also
References
- ^ "Joseph Albert Walker Biography". astronautix.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ Evans, Michelle (2013). "The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings Into Space-Flight Log" (PDF). Mach 25 Media. p. 11.
- ^ " Joseph A Walker." Space.com. Retrieved: September 8, 2010.
- ^ "Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova." Archived April 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine adm.yar.ru. Retrieved: September 8, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Michelle (2013). "The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings Into Space-Flight Log" (PDF). Mach 25 Media. pp. 32, 33.
- ^ "International Space Hall of Fame :: New Mexico Museum of Space History :: Inductee Profile". www.nmspacemuseum.org. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
- ^ "Captain Joseph Albert Walker". www.mccarran.com. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
- ^ Evans, Michelle (2013). "The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings Into Space-Flight Log" (PDF). Mach 25 Media. p. 12.
- ^ Lal, Bhavya; Nightingale, Emily (2014). "Where is Space? And Why Does That matter?". commons.erau.edu. p. 7.
- ^ Evans, Michelle (2013). "The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings Into Space-Flight Log" (PDF). Mach 25 Media. pp. 11, 27 & 51.
- ^ "Lunar Landing Research Vehicle". NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ "55 Years Ago: Astronaut Armstrong Survives LLRV Crash - NASA". May 4, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "XB-70A in collision, 2 die." Milwaukee Sentinel, June 9, 1966, p. 1-part 1.
- ^ "Inquiry begins into XB-70A collision." Milwaukee Journal, June 9, 1966, p. 12-part 1.
- ^ Yeager and Janos 1986, p. 226.
- ^ a b c Summary Report: XB-70 Accident Investigation. USAF, 1966.
- ^ a b Jenkins and Landis 2002, p. 60.
- ^ "Colonel fired for stunt role." Eugene Register-Guard, August 6, 1966. p. 4A.
- ^ "Colonel loses post over XB-70 crash." Tuscaloosa News, August 16, 1966, p. 1.
- ^ "The Crash of the XB-70." Check-Six.com. Retrieved: September 8, 2010.
- American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ Chandler, John (September 17, 1991). "Neil Armstrong to Join Lancaster Walk of Honor". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Kentucky Astronaut to be Honored". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. September 11, 1995. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Joe Walker Elementary". Retrieved November 23, 2017.
- ^ Johnsen, Frederick A. "X-15 Wings.". NASA. August 23, 2005. Retrieved: September 8, 2010
- ^ TrekCore Staff (August 1, 2017). "DISCOVERY's USS Shenzhou is a 'Walker-Class' Starship". TrekCore. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
Citations
- ^ Walker's X-1E was decorated with nose art of two dice and the name "Little Joe" (Little Joe being a slang term in the game of craps). Similar artwork reading "Little Joe the II" was applied to his X-15 for record-setting Flight 91. These were two rare cases of research aircraft carrying nose art.
- ^ The famous test pilot Chuck Yeager expressed his personal opinion that Walker's inexperience at formation flying was to blame, although no specific cause was ever determined in the subsequent accident investigation.[15]
Bibliography
- Coppinger, Rob. "Three new NASA astronauts, 40 years late". Flight International, June 30, 2005.
- "Joe Walker in pressure suit with X-1E." Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Archive. Retrieved: September 8, 2010.
- "Joseph (Joe) A. Walker." Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Archive. Retrieved: September 8, 2010.
- Jenkins, Dennis R. and Tony R. Landis. North American XB-70A Valkyrie WarbirdTech Volume 34. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2002. ISBN 1-580-07056-6.
- Lefer, David. "Higher, faster, greater: X-15 test pilot who held record for altitude, speed is honored." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 2, 1995, p. C1.
- ISBN 1-56098-1075.
- Winter, Frank H. and F. Robert van der Linden. "Out of the Past." Aerospace America, June 1991, p. 5.
- "X-1A with pilot Joe Walker." Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Archive. Retrieved: September 8, 2010.
- Yeager, Chuck and Leo Janos. Yeager: An Autobiography. New York: Bantam, 1986. ISBN 978-0-553-25674-1.
- Jenkins, Dennis R. (2000), Hypersonics Before the Shuttle: A Concise History of the X-15 Research Airplane, NASA Technical Reports, NASA, hdl:2060/20000068530, Document ID: 20000068530