Capt. Joseph Albert Walker has been selected for his leading role in the collection of data pertaining to hypersonic air flow, aerodynamic heating, control and stability at hypersonic speeds, reaction controls for flight above the atmosphere, piloting techniques for reentry, human factors in space, and flight instrumentation.

During the 1950s -1960s the United States government was involved in a complex series of programs with the goal of manned space flight. The "X-series" of experimental aircraft/spacecraft were developed in support of these programs. The X-series began the Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the speed of sound, and ended with the North American X-15 that currently holds the world record for the fastest speed by a manned rocket powered aircraft at 4,519 mph. Two X-15 flights exceeded 100km in altitude, thus qualifying the pilot as an astronaut under the Federation Aeronautique Internationale rules.

Joseph A. Walker was born February 20, 1921, in Washington, PA. Joe won a scholarship to Washington and Jefferson College in 1938 and received his degree i n physics in 1942. Upon graduation, Joe joined the Army Air Force where he received training as a pilot. During WW II, he served in Europe, flying a total of 58 missions in a modified P-38 Lightning.

After World War II, Joe was hired as a physicist by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in Cleveland. Shortly thereafter he became a research pilot working on problems of aircraft icing. In 1951, Walker had the opportunity to transfer to the High Speed Flight Research Station at Edwards Air Force Base, where he began flying the B-29 mother-ship that carried the X-planes to their launch altitudes. By the mid 1950s, he was a Chief Research Pilot working in X-series programs and flying the most exciting aircraft in existence.

Walker was project pilot on the Douglas X-3 Stiletto, making all 20 test flights of the aircraft. He was reported to have said that the aircraft was the worst plane that he had ever flown. Less than six years later, Joe was the first NASA pilot to fly the X-15, the most successful X-plane ever built. During the early 1960s, Joe served as the Chief Test Pilot for the X-15 program.

Joe flew the X-15 a total of 25 times. His first flight was on March 25, 1960 and his last was on August 22, 1963. During Flight #59 on June 27, 1962, Joe flew the X-15 to a top speed of 4,104 mph (Mach 5.92), the fourth fastest speed the X-15 ever reached. In addition, Joe was the seventh American in space (after six of the Mercury 7 astronauts), and the only American to have gone into space twice. The two flights leading to this record were Flight #90 on July 19, 1963 and Flight #91 on August 22, 1963. These flights are also Walker's "Nevada connection."

Flight #90 took off from Edwards AFB in California on the morning of the 19^th with X-15 #3 serial number 56-6672 securely mounted under the right wing of the mother ship, NB-52B Bomber #008. This was to be the first launch of an X-15 over Smith Ranch Dry Lake, NV, a rural area to the East of Fallon, and tracked by both the Ely and Beatty tracking stations. At 18:20:05 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) the X-15 separated from the mother-ship and Joe pulled back on the controls. The rocket engine burned for approximately 85 seconds, and the aircraft accelerated up to approximately 4gs. As the X-15 reached an apogee of 106.01 km, Joe was weightless for several minutes before beginning reentry. Parts of the X-15s exterior heated up to 650° C as the aircraft rapidly accelerated back to earth. Joe experienced approximately 5gs during the final pull up immediately before landing back at Edwards 11 minutes and 24.1 seconds after separation from the mother ship.

Flight #91 took off from Edwards AFB on the morning of the 22^nd with X-15 #3 under the wing of the mother ship. This was to be Joe's last X-15 flight and it was a record breaker. The X-15 separated from the mother ship at 18:05:57 UTC near Smith Ranch Dry Lake. The X-15 shot upward until it reached an apogee of 107.96 km and then returned to earth following the same profile as before. The total flight time was 11 minutes and 8.6 seconds.

As a result of Flight #90, Walker became the first American civilian in space and qualified as an astronaut under the 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.

Joe continued working for NASA after the X-15 program. He was the first to fly the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, a prototype of the trainer that all astronauts used prior to their moon landings. He was then assigned to the XB-70 triple-sonic bomber research program.

Captain Joseph Albert Walker died on June 8, 1966, as the result of a midair collision between the XB-70 and the NASA F-104N he was flying. He is buried at Joshua Memorial Park, Lancaster, CA. Walker was posthumously awarded his astronaut wings in a ceremony at the Dryden Flight Test Center on August 23, 2005.