Charles D. Walker

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Charles David "Charlie" Walker, an American engineer who served on three Space Shuttle missions in 1984 and 1985 as a Payload Specialist for McDonnell Douglas Corporation.

He is the first non-government individual to fly in space.

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Career

After graduating from Purdue University, he worked as a civil engineering engineer, land acquisition specialist, and forest firefighter for the US Forest Service. He was a design engineer with Bendix Aerospace Company, where he worked on aerodynamic analysis, missile subsystem design, and flight evaluation. He was also contracted as a project engineer with the Naval Sea Systems Command with responsibility for computer-controlled manufacturing equipment.

Walker applied for the 1978 astronaut class but was dissatisfied because 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 he wanted a career that might include him as one. In 1977, he joined McDonnell Douglas Corporation as a test engineer on the Aft Propulsion Subsystem for the Space Shuttle orbiters. He joined the Space Manufacturing (later known as Electrophoresis Operations in Space, EOS) team as one of the first employees. He holds a patent for the McDonnell Douglas-engineered continuous flow electrophoresis (CFES) unit. Ortho Pharmaceutical, McDonnell Douglas' main partner, was aiming to produce large amounts of purified erythropoietin in space.

He was Chief Test Engineer and Payload Specialist for McDonnell Douglas EOS' commercialization program from 1979 to 1986, having informed company executives that he was interested in flying in space if possible. Walker was the head of EOS' laboratory experiment and operations team that manufactures biomedical products. His contributions to the program included engineering analysis, product design, and manufacturing studies, as well as space flight and evaluation of the CFES unit. Walker was involved in the program support services at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas. During 1982 to 1983, he was responsible for training the NASA astronauts in the operation of the CFES payload on STS-4, STS-6, STS-7, and STS-8 shuttle flights. Walker was named Special Assistant to McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company's President in May 1986 and based in Washington, D.C.

Walker has served as a member of the NASA Microgravity Materials Science Assessment Task Force, the NASA Space Station Office's Quick-is Beautiful/Rapid Response Research Group, and the NASA Space Station Operations Task Force. He has been a member of the National Research Council's Space Applications Board. Walker was the Faculty Course Advisor and Lecturer for the International Space University's 1988 summer session. He was a participant in the civil space policy study of the 1988 Center for Strategic and International Studies. He served on the AIAA steering committee in drafting the AIAA's strategic guide for NASA's Office of Commercial Programs, which was responsible for the development of the AIAA's strategic roadmap. Walker has been a founding board member of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. He was the chairman of the 1992 World Space Congress's organizing committee. He has served as a national panel member of NASA/Industry Manned Flight Awareness Program and the NASA/Industry Education Initiative. Walker also supervised the NASA/Purdue University space life support center, a NASA/Penn State space commercial development center, and a U.S. Department of Education/Ohio State University science education center. He has served as the board director of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. Walker has served as the volunteer chairman of Spacecause's board of directors, as well as the National Space Society's past president and board director. He has also served as a board director of the Association of Space Explorers. Walker, a consultant, works with commercial space companies Space Adventures, Ltd., and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation as an advisor. Walker is a California licensed engineer. He has testified before committees of the United States Congress as an expert witness. He has published numerous papers and books on the EOS electrophoresis program, space exploration, industrialization, and space history. Walker has also written columns and articles for national newspapers and numerous other journals.

Walker retired in 2005 as the Head of NASA Systems Government Relations with The Boeing Company's Washington, D.C. Operations office. Walker is currently a consultant, author, and lecturer.

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Awards and honors

• U.S. Patent No. 4,394,246, Electrophoresis Apparatus with Flow Control, issued 19 July 1983
• NASA Space Flight Medals, 1984 and twice in 1985
• Sagamore of the Wabash, State of Indiana (November 1984)
• Doctor of Science, honoris causa, St. Louis College of Pharmacy (1985)
• Aerospace Laurels Award, Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine (1985)
• Lindbergh Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – St. Louis Section (1986)
• NASA Group Achievement Award, as consultant to the 1987–1988 Space Station Operations Task Force
• Engineering Astronaut Alumnus Award, Purdue University Schools of Engineering (September 1989)
• Kentucky Colonel, Commonwealth of Kentucky (May 1990)