Astronaut David Walker dead at 56April 23, 2001 — Former astronaut David Walker, 56, passed away Monday morning while being treated at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He is survived by a wife and two sons.
A Navy test pilot, Walker was commander of STS-30, a five-day mission of the space shuttle Discovery during which the Magellan Venus probe was deployed. Eight months after deployment in May 1989, Magellan entered orbit around the second planet and began to produce the most detailed images yet of the cloud-covered surface. (...)
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-042301a.htmlDavid Walker, Veteran NASA Astronaut, DiesApril 24, 2001 Doug Peterson
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
281/483-5111 Release: J01-44
David Mathieson Walker (Capt., USN, Ret.), veteran of four space shuttle missions including flights that rescued and deployed satellites, died April 23 following a sudden and brief illness. He was 56 years old.
Walker was selected by NASA in January 1978 and became an astronaut in August 1979. During his four missions he logged more than 700 hours in space. (...)
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/1999_2001/j01-44.htmlDavid M. Walker, 56, Astronaut and AviatorBy Warren E. Leary April 24, 2001
David M. Walker, a retired astronaut who flew on four space shuttle missions and was decorated as a Navy fighter pilot, died yesterday at a cancer center in Houston. He was 56 and lived near Boise, Idaho.
Mr. Walker's family said his illness was sudden and recent, but they did not give any details.
Mr. Walker, who retired as an astronaut in 1996, was among the first group of space shuttle astronauts chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1978.
He flew as a pilot aboard the Discovery shuttle in 1984 on the first mission in which a shuttle retrieved satellites. He went on to command three shuttle missions, in 1989, 1992 and 1995.
James S. Voss, currently a resident aboard the International Space Station, flew twice in space with Mr. Walker and, aware of his illness, spoke with Mr. Walker by radio on Sunday.
Mr. Walker liked to live life on the edge and enjoyed his stints as a fighter pilot, a test pilot and a shuttle commander, said Col. Robert D. Cabana of the Marine Corps, an astronaut and longtime friend.
''He was kind of a throwback to the 1960's,'' Colonel Cabana said.
A native of Columbus, Ga., Mr. Walker graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1966 and became an aviator.
During the Vietnam War, he flew F-4 Phantom fighters from the carriers Enterprise and America and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He later attended test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base in California and served as an engineering pilot at the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Md.
He logged more than 7,500 hours flying time, including 6,500 hours in jet aircraft, and tallied nearly 725 hours in space. Mr. Walker once said that flying in space was ''the most spectacular human experience that I've been involved in.''
Mr. Walker was grounded briefly in 1990 after the T-38 jet trainer he was flying came within 100 feet of an airliner outside Washington the year before.
Mr. Walker had been in Washington for White House ceremonies honoring the crew of a shuttle mission he had just commanded.
After leaving NASA, he became vice president of a Southern California telephone company and later was a consultant for the aerospace industry.
Mr. Walker was a technical consultant for the 1998 film ''Deep Impact,'' which was about a comet striking Earth.
Flags are to be flown at half-staff at Johnson Space Center in Houston until the burial of Mr. Walker, a retired Navy captain, at Arlington National Cemetery. No date has been set.
Mr. Walker is survived by his wife, the former Paige Lucas, and two sons from a previous marriage.https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/us/david-m-walker-56-astronaut-and-aviator.htmlhttps://twitter.com/ASE_Astronauts/status/1792587024806953249#ASEspotlight: David Walker 🌠
In December 1992, ASE member Walker smiled up at the camera from inside a floor hatch of Space Shuttle Discovery.
Fun fact: He attained the rank of Eagle Scout in the @boyscouts!
Today, we remember Red Dog on his birthday. ✨
Wątek: David Mathieson Walker (1944-2001) (Przeczytany 1988 razy)