Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame

Declaration of Enshrinement

November 6, 2010

Joseph A. Walker

During the early 1960s, Joseph Albert Walker served as the Chief Test Pilot for the X-15 program. During Flight #90, the first launch of an X-15 over Smith Ranch Dry Lake, Nevada, a rural area to the east of Fallon, and tracked by both the Ely and Beatty tracking stations. The X-15 separated from the B-52 mother-ship and landed back at Edwards 11 minutes and 24.1 seconds after separation. He flew a second flight, Flight #91, taking off from Edwards AFB on the morning of the 22nd with the X-15 separated from the mother ship near Smith Ranch Dry Lake, Nevada. The total flight time was 11 minutes and 8.6 seconds.

As a result of Flight #90, Walker became the first American civilian (Capt?) in space and qualified as an astronaut under Federation Aeronautique Internationale rules. With Flight #91, he became the first person in the world to be in space twice. This mission also set an unofficial world altitude record for rocket-powered aircraft that remained unbroken until the second space flight of the privately funded Space-Ship-One in 2004.

Walker played a leading role in the collection of data about hypersonic air flow, aerodynamic heating, control and stability at hypersonic speeds, reaction controls for flight above the atmosphere.

For his leading role in piloting techniques for reentry, human factors in space, and flight instrumentation, Joseph Albert Walker earned a place in the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame.

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TD BARNES, Executive Director

Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame