* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Joseph Albert Walker

Blobrana · L

Joe Walker became the first US civilian in space in 1963.

Blobrana · L

American Joe Walker in an X-15 test plane (Flight 91) reaches an altitude of 108 km on 1963

Blobrana · L

Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 (15 Flight 90) over Smith Dry Lake, NV, in 1963, to a record altitude of 106,010 metres, (a height known as the Kármán line) . This made Walker the first US civilian in space.
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Blobrana · L

Joseph Albert "Joe" Walker (20 February 1921 - 8 June 1966) was an American test pilot and a NASA astronaut.
In 1963, Walker made two X-15 flights beyond 100 kilometres - the edge of space - Flight 90 (19 July 1963; 106 km) and Flight 91 (22 August 1963; 108 km). Walker was the first US civilian in space, and the second overall, preceded only by Valentina Tereshkova a month earlier, and was the first person (civilian or not) to fly into space twice.
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