ASTRONAUT

Joseph A. Walker

1921 - 1966

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Joseph Albert Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) (Capt, USAF) was an American World War II pilot, experimental physicist, NASA test pilot, and astronaut who was the first person to fly an airplane to space. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA. In 1961, Walker became the first human in the mesosphere when piloting Flight 35, and in 1963, Walker made three flights above 50 miles, thereby qualifying as an astronaut according to the United States definition of the boundary of space. The latter two, X-15 Flights 90 and 91, also surpassed the Kármán line, the internationally accepted boundary of 100 kilometers (62.14 miles). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Joseph A. Walker has received more than 478,221 page views. His biography is available in 20 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 19 in 2019). Joseph A. Walker is the 114th most popular astronaut (down from 68th in 2019), the 4,264th most popular biography from United States (down from 3,293rd in 2019) and the 47th most popular American Astronaut.

Memorability Metrics

  • 480k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 58.51

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 20

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.30

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.69

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among ASTRONAUTS

Among astronauts, Joseph A. Walker ranks 114 out of 556Before him are Yury Glazkov, Bertalan Farkas, Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov, Talgat Musabayev, Gennady Padalka, and Gregory Jarvis. After him are Vladimir Aksyonov, Leonid Kadeniuk, Abdul Ahad Mohmand, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Vitaly Sevastyanov, and Anatoly Levchenko.

Most Popular Astronauts in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1921, Joseph A. Walker ranks 202Before him are Carlo Furno, Willem Frederik Hermans, Augusto Monterroso, Harry Schell, Viktor Chukarin, and Carmen Laforet. After him are Jacques Lecoq, Rashid Karami, Judy Holliday, Ziya Bunyadov, Pierre Bec, and Max Noether. Among people deceased in 1966, Joseph A. Walker ranks 114Before him are Vicente Rojo Lluch, Natacha Rambova, Hans Hofmann, C. S. Forester, Hedda Hopper, and Julie Manet. After him are Albrecht Brandi, Mehmet Fuat Köprülü, Gʻafur Gʻulom, Sylvère Maes, Ernest Burgess, and Courtney Hodges.

Others Born in 1921

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Others Deceased in 1966

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Joseph A. Walker ranks 4,264 out of 20,380Before him are Roy Rogers (1911), Chris Hardwick (1971), Morgan Robertson (1861), Connie Booth (1944), Wallace Beery (1885), and Richie Havens (1941). After him are William Forsythe (1949), Clara Barton (1821), Rose Wilder Lane (1886), Julia Robinson (1919), David Del Tredici (1937), and Tommy Mottola (1949).

Among ASTRONAUTS In United States

Among astronauts born in United States, Joseph A. Walker ranks 47Before him are Alfred Worden (1932), Stuart Roosa (1933), Kathryn D. Sullivan (1951), Deke Slayton (1924), Scott Carpenter (1925), and Gregory Jarvis (1944). After him are Jeffrey A. Hoffman (1944), Vance D. Brand (1931), Sunita Williams (1965), Mae Jemison (1956), Kenneth Cockrell (1950), and William R. Pogue (1930).