REX J WALHEIM - ASTRONAUT Walheim was born on 10 October 1962 in Redwood City, California be considers San Carlos, California, his hometown. He is married to the former Margie Dotson of Villa Park, California and have two children. His hobbies include skiing, hiking, softball and American football. Walheim graduated from San Carlos High School in 1980 and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1984, and a Master of Science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Houston in 1989. In addition to his education qualifications, Walheim has achieved the following other awards and Honours: Distinguished Graduate, Reserve Officers Training Corps, University of California, Berkeley Distinguished Graduate and top flight test engineer in USAF Test Pilot School Class 92A. Meritorious Service Medal Air Force Commendation Medals (2) Aerial Achievement Medal Walheim was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Air Force in May 1984. In April of 1985 he was assigned to Cavalier Air Force Station in Cavalier, North Dakota, where he worked as a missile warning operations crew commander. In October 1986, he was reassigned to the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, where he worked as a mechanical systems flight controller and was the lead operations engineer for the Space Shuttle landing gear, brakes, and emergency runway barrier. Walheim was transferred to Headquarters Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in August 1989, where he was manager of a program upgrading missile warning radars. He was selected for USAF Test Pilot School in 1991, and attended the course at Edwards AFB in California in 1992. Following his graduation, he was assigned to the F-16 Combined Test Force at Edwards where he was a project manager, and then commander of the avionics and armament flight. In January 1996, Walheim became an instructor at USAF Test Pilot School, where he served until he commenced astronaut training. Walheim served as a flight controller and operations engineer at the Johnson Space Center from October 1986 to January 1989. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in March 1996 and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. Initially, Walheim was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch. He served on the EVA crew of STS-110 in 2002 and has logged over 259 hours in space, including over 14 EVA hours. After his first flight, he was assigned to the EVA branch, where he served as the astronaut office representative for the Extra Vehicular Mobility Unit, (the EVA spacesuit). Walheim is currently assigned to the STS-122 mission that will deliver the European Space Agency’s Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station. |
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