Charles Walker

Biographic Sketch:

Charles Walker flew on three Shuttle missions in 1984 and 1985—not as a NASA-employed astronaut, but as an employee of McDonnell Douglas. This made him the first person to fly into space under the employment of a private commercial company. As the first industrial pay-load specialist, he was at the forefront of commercial space efforts related to using microgravity to produce materials that can be used for biomedical products.

• Five Questions with Charles Walker (2020)