JOSEPH A. WALKER, NASA

Joe Walker flew the X-15 for 41 months, from 25 March 1960 until 22 August 1963, making 25 flights. These included five flights with the XLR11 and 20 with the XLR99. Walker reached Mach 5.92, a maximum speed of 4,104 mph, and an altitude of 354,200 feet. His accomplishments include the first government flight, the maximum speed (4,104 mph) flight of a basic X-15, and the maximum altitude (354,200 feet) flight.

Joseph Albert Walker was born on 20 February 1921 in Washington, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Washington & Jefferson College in 1942 with a bachelor of arts degree in physics. During World War II he flew P-38 fighters for the Army Air Forces in North Africa, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters.

He joined the NACA in March 1945 at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory (now the Lewis Research Center), where he was involved in icing research and spent many hours flying into the worse weather the Great Lakes region could dish out. He transferred to the HSFS in 1951 and became chief pilot in 1955. He served as project pilot on the D-558-1, D-558-2, X-1, X-3, X-4, X-5, and X-15, and flew the F-100, F-101, F-102, F-104, and B-47. He was the first man to pilot the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) used to develop piloting and operational techniques for lunar landings.

Prior to joining the X-15 program, Walker did some pioneering work on the concept of reaction controls, flying an JF-104A to peak altitudes of 90,000 feet. The indicated airspeed going over the top of this maneuver was less than 30 knots, providing an ideal environment for evaluating

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the reaction control system.

Walker was a joint recipient of the 1961 Robert J. Collier Trophy presented by President John F. Kennedy at the White House in July 1962. Walker also received the 1961 Harmon International Trophy for Aviators, the 1961 Iven C. Kincheloe Award, and the 1961 Octave Chanute Award. He received an honorary doctor of aeronautical sciences degree from his alma mater in June 1962, and in 1963 the National Pilots Association named him Pilot of the Year for 1963. He was a charter member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and one of the first to be designated a fellow. Tragically, Walker died on 8 June 1966 in a mid-air collision between his F-104 and the second XB-70A.[28] On 23 August 2005, the Walker family received a set of astronaut wings honoring Joe Walker’s flights above 50 miles altitude in the X-15.