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Rex Walheim will fly onboard Space Shuttle Atlantis
Rex Walheim was thrilled when the lead spacewalker on the last shuttle flight fixed a ripped solar wing at the space station. That meant he wouldn't have to deal with the mess as lead spacewalker for this mission.
"It was so nice to say, 'That's off our plate, we can stop thinking about that now."'
Walheim, 45, an Air Force colonel from San Carlos, California, went from being a NASA flight controller to an astronaut in 1996. He flew to the space station in 2002 and performed two spacewalks to hook up a giant girder and railcar. This mission, he'll spacewalk three times.
His 83-year-old father, an Army Air Corps pilot in World War II, would love to be on board, too. His dad tells him, "Hey, if they ever need an old B-17 pilot, you know who to call."
Walheim and his wife's two sons, 9 and 11, aren't as aviation-minded. One wants to be a scientist, the other a roller coaster designer.
My question is what unit was his father in during the war?
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