Rex Walheim | |
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.jpg) Walheim in 2011 | |
| Born | Rex Joseph Walheim (1962-10-10)October 10, 1962 (age 63) Redwood City, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BS) University of Houston (MS) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Colonel,USAF |
Time in space | 36d 8h 31m[1] |
| Selection | NASA Group 16 (1996) |
| Missions | STS-110 STS-122 STS-135 |
Mission insignia |    |
Rex Joseph Walheim (born October 10, 1962) is a retiredUnited States Air Force officer,engineer andNASAastronaut. He flew threeSpace Shuttle missions,STS-110,STS-122, andSTS-135. Walheim logged over 566 hours in space, including 36 hours and 23 minutes of spacewalk (EVA) time. He was assigned asmission specialist andflight engineer onSTS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission.
Walheim was born inRedwood City, California, but considersSan Carlos, California, his hometown.[2]
Walheim graduated fromSan Carlos High School in 1980 and received aBachelor of Science degree inmechanical engineering from theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1984. He then received aMaster of Science degree inindustrial engineering from theUniversity of Houston in 1989.[2]
Walheim was commissioned as asecond lieutenant in theAir Force in May 1984. In April 1985 he was assigned toCavalier Air Force Station inCavalier, North Dakota, where he worked as a missile warning operations crew commander. In October 1986, he was reassigned to theJohnson Space Center, inHouston, Texas, where he worked as a mechanical systemsflight controller and was the lead operations engineer for theSpace Shuttle landing gear, brakes, and emergency runway barrier.[2]
Walheim was transferred to HeadquartersAir Force Space Command inColorado Springs, Colorado, in August 1989, where he was manager of a program upgrading missile warning radars. He was selected forUSAF Test Pilot School in 1991, and attended the course atEdwards AFB in California in 1992. Following graduation, he was assigned to theF-16 Combined Test Force at Edwards where he was a project manager, and then commander of the avionics and armament flight. In January 1996, Walheim became an instructor at USAF Test Pilot School, where he served until he began astronaut training.[2]
Walheim served as a flight controller and operations engineer at the Johnson Space Center from October 1986 to January 1989. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in March 1996 and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he was qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. Initially, Walheim was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch. Walheim flew three flights,STS-110,STS-122 andSTS-135, the final flight of the shuttle, logging over 566 hours in space, including over 36 hours and 23 minutes of EVA time. After his first flight, he was assigned to the EVA branch, where he served as the astronaut office representative for the Extra Vehicular Mobility Unit (the EVAspacesuit).
In September 2002, Walheim served as anaquanaut on the joint NASA-NOAANEEMO 4 expedition (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations), an exploration research mission held inAquarius, the world's onlyundersea research laboratory, four miles off shore fromKey Largo. Walheim and his crewmates spent five dayssaturation diving from the Aquarius habitat as aspace analogue for working and training under extreme environmental conditions. The mission was delayed due toHurricane Isadore, forcingNational Undersea Research Center managers to shorten it to an underwater duration of five days. Then, three days into their underwater mission, the crew members were told thatTropical Storm Lili was headed in their direction and to prepare for an early departure from Aquarius. However, Lili degenerated to the point where it was no longer a threat, so the crew was able to remain the full five days.[3]
During theinauguration of Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, inWashington, D.C., Walheim marched in the parade carrying an American flag and wearing a prototype of NASA's next generation spacesuit.[4]
Walheim served as mission specialist 1 onSTS-110. STS-110 delivered theS0 truss segment to theInternational Space Station (ISS). Walheim conducted two spacewalks to install the S0 truss and reconfigureCanadarm2 for use on S0, spending 14 hours and 15 minutes outside the ISS. STS-110 lasted 10 days, 19 hours, 43 minutes and 38 seconds.[5]
Walheim served as mission specialist 2 and was the flight engineer forSTS-122. STS-122, which was a 12-day, 18-hour flight, delivered the European-builtColumbus module to the ISS theEuropean Space Agency (ESA). Walheim conducted three spacewalks, totaling 22 hours and 8 minutes.[6]
Walheim served as mission specialist 2 on the final flight of the Space Shuttle,STS-135, a thirteen-day mission to the International Space Station. The mission launched on July 8, 2011, and landed on July 21.[7]
Rex Walheim retired from NASA August 2020.[8]
Walheim is married to Margie Dotson, formerly ofVilla Park, California. They have two children. He enjoys snow skiing, hiking, softball and football. His father, Lawrence M. Walheim, Jr., resides inVisalia, California. His mother, Avis L. Walheim, is deceased.[2]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA Astronaut Group 15 ← NASA Astronaut Group 16 →NASA Astronaut Group 17 | |||||||
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