Ulrich Hans Walter (born February 9, 1954) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and a former

DFVLR The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Education

Walter was born in

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geography Iserlohn is locat ...

. After finishing secondary school there and two years in the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, he studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. In 1980, he was awarded a diploma degree, and five years later a doctorate, both in the field of

solid-state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the l ...

. After two post-doc positions at the

Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, California, he was selected in 1987 to join the

German astronaut team The German astronaut team was established in 1987. Before the establishment of the team, then- West German astronauts were selected for single missions, or as part of the European Space Agency's manned spaceflight activities. East Germany had its ...

. From 1988 to 1990, he completed basic training at the

German Aerospace Center The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...

, and was then nominated to be in the prime crew for the second German

Spacelab Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, ...

mission. Walter is married, has two children, and lives near

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Spaceflight

In 1993, he flew on board the

Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the Columbia Rediviva, first American ship to circumnavigate the upper North American Pacific coast and the ...

on mission

STS-55 STS-55, or Deutschland 2 (D-2), was the 55th overall flight of the NASA Space Shuttle and the 14th flight of Shuttle '' Columbia''. This flight was a multinational Spacelab flight involving 88 experiments from eleven different nations. The expe ...

(Spacelab D-2) as a Payload Specialist. He spent 9 days, 23 hours, and 40 minutes in space.

Career

After his spaceflight he worked for another four years at DLR, managing a space imaging database project. When the German astronaut team was merged into a European Space Agency, he did not transfer, but resigned to work at IBM Germany. In 2003, he became full

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

Technische Universität München The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

(

, Germany), holding the chair of the Institute of Astronautics (space technology) at the University's faculty of

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

. In 2008, he was distinguished as Professor of the Year 2008 in the category "engineering sciences and computer science". He serves on the advisory board of

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

, on the advisory council of

Giordano Bruno Foundation The Giordano Bruno Foundation (german: Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung, abbreviated: gbs) is a Germany-based non-profit foundation under public law that promotes evolutionary humanism and the enlightenment. It was founded by entrepreneur Herbert Steffe ...

, and he is president of the ''

Hermann Oberth Space Travel Museum The Hermann Oberth Space Travel Museum (Hermann-Oberth-Raumfahrt-Museum, or Hermann-Oberth-Museum for short) is a museum of space technology in the Franconian city of Feucht in Bavaria, Germany. It commemorates the life work of the famous visio ...

'' in

Feucht Feucht is a market town and municipality southeast of Nuremberg in the district of Nürnberger Land in Bavaria, Germany. The name Feucht () is derived from the Old High German noun "viuhtje" - "fichta", which is the spruce tree (vernacularly Féic ...

. He is the author of several books, including the illustrated book "In 90 Minuten um die Erde" ("Around the World in 90 Minutes"), and he has published more than 80 articles in various international journals.

Awards and Merits

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

, * Wernher-von-Braun Medal *

Kyiv Polytechnic Institute ) , image = NTUU KPI logo.png , image_size = 220px , caption = Seal of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute , established = 1898 , students = 36,000 (approximately) , admini ...

, Ukraine (honorary doctorate 2012) * National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, Ukraine (Honorary Professor)

Selected bibliography

* ''In 90 Minuten um die Erde.'' Stürtz, Würzburg 1997, * ''Zivilisationen im All: Sind wir allein im Universum?'' Spektrum Akademie Verlag, Heidelberg 1999, * ''Zu Hause im Universum.'' Rowohlt, Berlin 2002, * ''Astronautics.'' Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2007, * ''Im schwarzen Loch ist der Teufel los.'' Komplett-Media, Grünwald 2016, * ''Höllenritt durch Raum und Zeit.'' Komplett-Media, Grünwald 2017, * ''Eine andere Sicht auf die Welt.'' Komplett-Media, Grünwald 2018,

External links

NASA biographyInstitute of AstronauticsHonorary doctorate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Ulrich 1954 births Living people German astronauts European amateur radio operators Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Technical University of Munich faculty Space Shuttle program astronauts