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Author
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Topic: Charles Walker: payload to mission specialist?
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chappy
Member Posts: 231
From: Cardiff, S. Wales, UK
Registered: Apr 2006
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posted 05-23-2013 06:08 PM
   
Had Charles Walker ever applied to join the astronaut corps after he flown three times into space as payload specialist? Just a thought because once the payload specialist flown into space, they never went up again apart from Charles Walker, Ronald Parise, and Samuel Durrance... |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-23-2013 06:54 PM
There were others few PSs who flew more than once, and PSs who underwent the training to MS and flew another flight - Marc Garneau for one comes to mind. |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 05-23-2013 07:14 PM
Just the opposite, chappy. Charlie told me he applied to an earlier class (either '78 or '80) and did not get selected. It's quite amazing how the stars literally lined up for him after that. |
MCroft04
Member Posts: 1634
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 05-23-2013 08:52 PM
Did the stars just line up or did Charlie line them up? |
dcfowler1
Member Posts: 77
From: Eugene, OR
Registered: May 2006
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posted 05-23-2013 11:58 PM
I don't see that Walker ever made the interview stage, but these PS's did: - Jay Buckey 90, 96
- Joseph Carretto, 84
- Mary Helen Johnson, 78, 80
- Stanley Koszelak, 95, 96, 98
- Byron Lichtenberg, 78, 80
- Barbara Morgan, 98 (Selected)
- William Pailes, 87
- Gary Payton, 85
- Paul Ronney, 90
- Paul Schlein, 78
- Richard Terrile, 78, 80, 84
- Scott Vangen, 92, 96, 98, 00
- Millie Hughes-Fulford, 78
- Bill Williams, 80
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Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-24-2013 12:21 AM
Somewhat related: The Canadians, ESAs, and Japanese all flew as PSs at least once. The Russians, however, all flew as Mission Specialists. Did someone balk of the idea of Russians as PSs or did they take specialized (and different) training from the Payload Specialists that allowed them to have the title of Mission Specialist? |
chappy
Member Posts: 231
From: Cardiff, S. Wales, UK
Registered: Apr 2006
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posted 05-26-2013 03:28 AM
Thanks to those who responded to my post. It's interesting to see these comments. Cheers for your help. |
MCroft04
Member Posts: 1634
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 05-26-2013 08:25 AM
It seems fortuitous that 14 payload specialists applied for the astronaut corps. It also seems unlikely that their research or career choices then just happened to lead to their selection as payload specialists. Is it possible that following their being declined in the astronaut selection process that they structured their research/career to get a slot on the shuttle? |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 05-26-2013 09:06 AM
No, it is exactly that. Their research or career choices did to lead to their selection as payload specialists. That is why they were payload specialists, because of their research. Some were working on their own experiments. Most applied to be an astronaut after flying as a payload specialist. It wasn't that they were rejected as astronauts and then applied as payload specialist, it was they were payload specialist and they thought they could leverage that into an astronaut slot. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 05-26-2013 06:51 PM
I can't attest to Charlie Walker's applications to be an MS. However, I worked at McDonnell-Douglas Astronautics Co (MDAC) in the early 1980's, and Charlie was infamous for putting in huge unpaid overtime hours on the electrophoresis project. And that seemed to be what helped him get selected by MDAC to be the guy who flew with the experiment... |
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