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Joe Walker: NASA's Forgotten Spaceman

88 points by high_frontier 9y ago

heisthefox 9y ago
I actually went to Joe Walker Middle School, he certainly wasn't forgotten then.
- high_frontier 9y ago
  I don't think many at Dryden or the surrounding area forgot him. He was held in high regard by colleagues, but apparently this didn't count at NASA HQ
rory096 9y ago
Great anecdote about the X-15 from John D. Clark's excellent book Ignition!: >But something more potent than alcohol was needed for the X-15 rocket-driven supersonic research plane. Hydrazine was the first choice, but it sometimes exploded when used for regenerative cooling, and in 1949, when the program was conceived, there wasn't enough of it around, anyway. Bob Truax of the Navy, along with Winternitz of Reaction Motors, which was to develop the 50,000 pounds thrust motor, settled on ammonia as a reasonably satisfactory second best. The oxygen-ammonia combination had been fired by JPL, but RMI really worked it out in the early 50's. The great stability of the ammonia molecule made it a tough customer to burn and from the beginning they were plagued with rough running and combustion instability. All sorts of additives to the fuel were tried in the hope of alleviating the condition, among them methylamine and acetylene. Twenty-two percent of the latter gave smooth combustion, but was dangerously unstable, and the mixture wasn't used long. The combustion problems were eventually cured by improving the injector design, but it was a long and noisy process. At night, I could hear the motor being fired, ten miles away over two ranges of hills, and could tell how far the injector design had progressed, just by the way the thing sounded. >Even when the motor, finally, was running the way it should, and the first of the series was ready to be shipped to the West Coast to be test-flown by Scott Crossfield, everybody had his fingers crossed. Lou Rapp, of RMI, flying across the continent, found himself with a knowledgeable seat mate, obviously in the aerospace business, who asked him his opinion of the motor. Lou blew up, and declared, with gestures, that it was a mechanical monster, an accident looking for a place to happen, and that he, personally, considered that flying with it was merely a somewhat expensive method of suicide. Then, remembering something he turned to his companion and asked. "By the way, I didn't get your name. What is it?" >The reply was simple. "Oh, I'm Scott Crossfield."
- high_frontier 9y ago
  Thanks for sharing! That's a great story, hadn't heard it before.
vaadu 9y ago
The first civilian in space was Valentina Tereshkova https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut
- high_frontier 9y ago
  She was given an Air Force Commission when selected as were the other female cosmonaut candidates, so at the time of her flight held a military rank and was generally pictured in her uniform
sbjustin 9y ago
This is cool to see on HN. Joe Walker was a cousin of my moms and has always been an inspiration to me. I've never actually met any of that side of the family and would love to if any on here claim relation as well. (You know how families are sometimes)
- high_frontier 9y ago
  You should try getting in touch with public affairs or the history officer via the NASA Armstrong website- they may be able to help
cyberferret 9y ago
I've been fascinated with Walker's exploits since I was a kid. But it is disconcerting when I read anecdotes or stories written by those who were dyed in the wool NASA crew or part of the astronaut corps. There always seems to be an undercurrent of resentment and dismissal over a 'civilian' being involved in what was considered elite test pilot duties. Even Gen. Yeager I believe once intimated that Walker's death during the XB-70 photo shoot was partially his fault due to 'not having the experience in formation flying that an Air Force or Navy pilot would have'. Yeager I believe went on to say that the accident probably would not have happened if all the fliers were military trained. [Note: I can't find the quote online now, but I believe I saw it in a printed Aviation magazine a couple of decades ago.] A tad unfair IMO, given all his other achievements.
- high_frontier 9y ago
  Yes, I've seen the comments you're referring to - can't remember if they're in the book YEAGER or elsewhere. There was certainly a tension between the Air Force test pilots and the NACA/NASA research pilots. Both Yeager and Pete Knight expressed opinions that their civilian counterparts were more interested in the technical side of research than flying and lacked the skill and experience that the Air Force pilots had. Having said that most of the civilian pilots had prior military combat experience so were clearly capable at what they did. With regards to the XB-70 incident, in retrospect it seems foolish that a close formation flight was attempted with the wings in their down position as these created huge vortices. Also the weather was poor that day (Walker had commented to a colleague that it was 'a bad day for flying' but he had to 'get this thing done')

88 points by high_frontier 9y ago

heisthefox 9y ago

I actually went to Joe Walker Middle School, he certainly wasn't forgotten then.

high_frontier 9y ago
I don't think many at Dryden or the surrounding area forgot him. He was held in high regard by colleagues, but apparently this didn't count at NASA HQ

rory096 9y ago

Great anecdote about the X-15 from John D. Clark's excellent book Ignition!: >But something more potent than alcohol was needed for the X-15 rocket-driven supersonic research plane. Hydrazine was the first choice, but it sometimes exploded when used for regenerative cooling, and in 1949, when the program was conceived, there wasn't enough of it around, anyway. Bob Truax of the Navy, along with Winternitz of Reaction Motors, which was to develop the 50,000 pounds thrust motor, settled on ammonia as a reasonably satisfactory second best. The oxygen-ammonia combination had been fired by JPL, but RMI really worked it out in the early 50's. The great stability of the ammonia molecule made it a tough customer to burn and from the beginning they were plagued with rough running and combustion instability. All sorts of additives to the fuel were tried in the hope of alleviating the condition, among them methylamine and acetylene. Twenty-two percent of the latter gave smooth combustion, but was dangerously unstable, and the mixture wasn't used long. The combustion problems were eventually cured by improving the injector design, but it was a long and noisy process. At night, I could hear the motor being fired, ten miles away over two ranges of hills, and could tell how far the injector design had progressed, just by the way the thing sounded. >Even when the motor, finally, was running the way it should, and the first of the series was ready to be shipped to the West Coast to be test-flown by Scott Crossfield, everybody had his fingers crossed. Lou Rapp, of RMI, flying across the continent, found himself with a knowledgeable seat mate, obviously in the aerospace business, who asked him his opinion of the motor. Lou blew up, and declared, with gestures, that it was a mechanical monster, an accident looking for a place to happen, and that he, personally, considered that flying with it was merely a somewhat expensive method of suicide. Then, remembering something he turned to his companion and asked. "By the way, I didn't get your name. What is it?" >The reply was simple. "Oh, I'm Scott Crossfield."

high_frontier 9y ago
Thanks for sharing! That's a great story, hadn't heard it before.

vaadu 9y ago

The first civilian in space was Valentina Tereshkova https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut

high_frontier 9y ago
She was given an Air Force Commission when selected as were the other female cosmonaut candidates, so at the time of her flight held a military rank and was generally pictured in her uniform

sbjustin 9y ago

This is cool to see on HN. Joe Walker was a cousin of my moms and has always been an inspiration to me. I've never actually met any of that side of the family and would love to if any on here claim relation as well. (You know how families are sometimes)

high_frontier 9y ago
You should try getting in touch with public affairs or the history officer via the NASA Armstrong website- they may be able to help

cyberferret 9y ago

I've been fascinated with Walker's exploits since I was a kid. But it is disconcerting when I read anecdotes or stories written by those who were dyed in the wool NASA crew or part of the astronaut corps. There always seems to be an undercurrent of resentment and dismissal over a 'civilian' being involved in what was considered elite test pilot duties. Even Gen. Yeager I believe once intimated that Walker's death during the XB-70 photo shoot was partially his fault due to 'not having the experience in formation flying that an Air Force or Navy pilot would have'. Yeager I believe went on to say that the accident probably would not have happened if all the fliers were military trained. [Note: I can't find the quote online now, but I believe I saw it in a printed Aviation magazine a couple of decades ago.] A tad unfair IMO, given all his other achievements.

high_frontier 9y ago
Yes, I've seen the comments you're referring to - can't remember if they're in the book YEAGER or elsewhere. There was certainly a tension between the Air Force test pilots and the NACA/NASA research pilots. Both Yeager and Pete Knight expressed opinions that their civilian counterparts were more interested in the technical side of research than flying and lacked the skill and experience that the Air Force pilots had. Having said that most of the civilian pilots had prior military combat experience so were clearly capable at what they did. With regards to the XB-70 incident, in retrospect it seems foolish that a close formation flight was attempted with the wings in their down position as these created huge vortices. Also the weather was poor that day (Walker had commented to a colleague that it was 'a bad day for flying' but he had to 'get this thing done')