
Joe Walker: NASA's Forgotten Spaceman - high_frontier
https://thehighfrontier.blog/2017/05/22/joe-walker-nasas-forgotten-spaceman
======
rory096
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
Thanks for sharing! That's a great story, hadn't heard it before.

------
vaadu
The first civilian in space was Valentina Tereshkova
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut)

~~~
high_frontier
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

------
cyberferret
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
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')

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

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

~~~
high_frontier
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

