Editing Ulrich Walter

{{short description|German physicist, engineer and astronaut (born 1954)}}
{{Infobox astronaut
| name          = Ulrich Walter
| image         = Ulrich walter.jpg
| caption       = Official [[STS-55]] mission portrait, 1993
| type          = [[German Aerospace Center|DFVLR]] astronaut
| nationality   = German
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1954|2|9}}
| birth_name    = Ulrich Hans Walter
| birth_place   = [[Iserlohn]], [[West Germany]]
| occupation    = [[Physicist]]
| selection     = [[List of astronauts by selection#1987|1987 German Group]]
| time          = 9d 23h 40m
| mission       = [[STS-55]]
| insignia      = [[Image:Sts-55-patch.png|50px]]
|}}
'''Ulrich Hans Walter''' (born February 9, 1954) is a [[Germans|German]] [[physicist]], [[engineer]] and former [[German Aerospace Center|DFVLR]] [[astronaut]].

== Education ==
Walter was born in [[Iserlohn]]. After finishing secondary school there and two years in the [[Bundeswehr]], he studied [[physics]] at the [[University of Cologne]]. In 1980, he was awarded a diploma degree, and five years later a doctorate, both in the field of [[solid-state physics]].

After two post-doc positions at the [[Argonne National Laboratory]], [[Chicago, Illinois]], and the [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California at Berkeley]], California, he was selected in 1987 to join the [[German astronaut team]]. From 1988 to 1990, he completed basic training at the [[German Aerospace Center]], and was then nominated to be in the prime crew for the second German [[Spacelab]] mission.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biografie von Ulrich Walter|url=https://www.esa.int/Space_in_Member_States/Germany/Biografie_von_Ulrich_Walter|access-date=2021-12-03|website=www.esa.int|language=en}}</ref>

Walter is married, has two children, and lives near [[Munich]], [[Germany]].

== Spaceflight ==
In 1993, he flew on board the [[Space Shuttle Columbia]] on mission [[STS-55]] (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 [[International Business Machines|IBM]] Germany.

In 2003, he became full [[professor]] at the [[Technische Universität München]] ([[Munich]], Germany), holding the chair of the Institute of Astronautics (space technology) at the University's [[Faculty (division)|faculty]] of [[mechanical engineering]]. In 2008, he was distinguished as Professor of the Year 2008 in the category "engineering sciences and computer science".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Walter, Ulrich|url=https://www.giordano-bruno-stiftung.de/en/advisory-board/walter-ulrich|access-date=2021-12-03|website=www.giordano-bruno-stiftung.de|language=en}}</ref>

He serves on the advisory board of [[Deutsches Museum]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kuratorium - Deutsches Museum|url=https://www.deutsches-museum.de/museum/organisation/kuratorium|access-date=2021-12-03|website=www.deutsches-museum.de|language=de-DE}}</ref> on the advisory council of [[Giordano Bruno Foundation]], and he is president of the ''[[Hermann Oberth Space Travel Museum]]'' in [[Feucht]]. 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.<ref name=":0" />

== Awards and merits ==

* [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]], 
* [[Wernher-von-Braun Medal]] 
* [[Kyiv Polytechnic Institute]], Ukraine (honorary doctorate 2012) 
* [[National Pedagogical Dragomanov University]], Ukraine (Honorary Professor)

== Selected bibliography ==

* ''In 90 Minuten um die Erde.'' Stürtz, Würzburg 1997, {{ISBN|3-8003-0876-2}}
* ''Zivilisationen im All: Sind wir allein im Universum?'' Spektrum Akademie Verlag, Heidelberg 1999, {{ISBN|3-8274-0486-X}}
* ''Zu Hause im Universum.'' Rowohlt, Berlin 2002, {{ISBN|3-87134-450-8}}
* ''Astronautics.'' Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-527-40685-2}}
* ''Im schwarzen Loch ist der Teufel los.'' Komplett-Media, Grünwald 2016, {{ISBN|978-3-8312-0435-9}} 
* ''Höllenritt durch Raum und Zeit.'' Komplett-Media, Grünwald 2017, {{ISBN|978-3-8312-0450-2}}
* ''Eine andere Sicht auf die Welt.'' Komplett-Media, Grünwald 2018, {{ISBN|978-3-8312-0475-5}}

==External links==
*[http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/walter-u.html NASA biography]
*[http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/international/english/walter_ulrich.htm Spacefacts biography of Ulrich Walter]
*[http://www.astronautics.de Institute of Astronautics]
*[http://kpi.ua/valter Honorary doctorate]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Ulrich}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:German astronauts]]
[[Category:European amateur radio operators]]
[[Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich]]
[[Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts]]