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Shannon Walker

SHANNON WALKER

PROFILE

 

 

Full Name:

Dr. Shannon Walker.

Rank:

Civilian; PhD (Space Physics).

Born:

4 June 1965, in Houston, Texas, USA (American).

Education:

1983: Graduated from Westbury High School, Houston, Texas.

 

1987: BA in Physics from Rice University, Houston, Texas.

 

1992: MSc degree in Space Physics from Rice University, Houston, Texas.

 

1993: PhD in Space Physics from Rice University, Houston, Texas.

Career Highlights:

1987-1995: (Space Shuttle) Robotics flight controller, Rockwell Space Operations Company; flight controller Mission Control Center (MCC): STS-27 (Dec 1988), STS-32 (Jan 1990).

 

1990-1993: Leave of absence to attend graduate school at Rice University, to study solar wind interaction with the Venusian atmosphere.

 

1993: Backroom support flight controller MCC: STS-56 (Apr), STS-51 (Sep), STS-61 (Dec).

 

1994: Backroom support flight controller MCC: STS-60 (Feb), STS-66 (Nov); finalist for Astronaut Class of 1994 (Group 15), 2nd group of candidates for medicals and interviews (w/c 17 Jul) but not selected.

 

1995-1998: Joined NASA civil service; assigned to robotics integration in the ISS programme at JSC; working with international partners in the design and construction of the robotics hardware for ISS; (1995) finalist for Astronaut Class of 1995 (Group 16), 4th group of candidates for medicals and interviews (w/c 10 Dec) but not selected; finalist for Astronaut Class of 1997 (Group 17), 4th group of candidates for medicals and interviews (w/c 16 Nov) but not selected.

 

1998-1999: Joined the ISS Mission Evaluation Room (MER) as manager for coordinating on-orbit problem resolution for space station; (1999) finalist for Astronaut Class of 1999 (Group 18), 1st group of candidates for medicals and interviews (w/c 20 Sep) but not selected.

 

1999-2000: Relocated to Moscow, Russia, working with the Russian Space Agency (RSA) and its contractors on avionics integration and integrated problem solving for ISS.

 

2000-2004: Returned to JSC; technical lead for the ISS MER and Deputy Manager of the On-Orbit Engineering Office; Prior to selection as an Ascan she was the Acting Manager of the On-Orbit Engineering Office at JSC.

 

2003-2004: Finalist for the Astronaut Class of 2004 (Group 19), 2nd group of candidates for medicals and interviews (w/c 22 Sep 2003), selected for Ascan training.

 

 

NASA ASTRONAUT ASSIGNMENTS

2004:

(6 May) After 14 years and five attempts, Walker was named by NASA as one of six Mission Specialist (MS) candidates in a group of 11 (Group 19); (Jun) began Ascan training programme.

2005:

Ascan training.

2006:

Ascan training; (10 Feb) graduated Ascan training course; qualified as an MS; assigned to Astronaut Office (Code CB) ISS Control Branch and as a Flight Team Shift Capcom in MCC; (Sep 2006 - Apr 2007) crew support astronaut ISS EO-14, including Capcom shifts.

2007:

Crew support astronaut EO-14 (through April); Capcom; (Aug) Lead Space Station Capcom, Orbit 2 Flash Shift (Flight Director [FD] Montalbano) during STS-118; (Summer) began training for long duration flight on ISS; (Aug) assigned as BUp EO-19; ISS expedition training.

2008:

ISS expedition training; (12 Feb) officially assigned to crew by NASA; (16-22 Jun) Soyuz water survival training, Sevastopol, Ukraine; (Jul) replaced on crew by Jeff Williams and reassigned as BUp ISS EO-21 and prime EO-24; (21 Sep) Roscosmos confirms assignment; (21 Nov) NASA confirms assignment; ISS expedition training.

2009:

ISS expedition training; (7-8 & 10 Sep) Russian pre-flight exams and approval as BUp FE Soyuz TMA-16 and EO-21/22; (30 Sep) BUp FE during launch of Soyuz TMA-16; (Oct) member of first training group of NASA astronauts at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California; SpaceX Dragon familiarisation training; ISS expedition training.

2010:

ISS expedition training; (25-26 & 28 May) Russian pre-flight exams; ISS expedition training; (14 Jun) approval as FE-1 Soyuz TMA-19 and FE-6 EO-24/25; (15 Jun - 26 Nov) flew as FE-1 Soyuz TMA-19 and FE-6 ISS EO-24/25 (163 days 7 hrs 10 min 43 sec); post-flight debrief and recovery.

2011:

(Feb 2011 - Mar 2013) Deputy, CB Soyuz Branch; (19 Sep) named to command NEEMO 15 (planned for 13 days); NEEMO training; (17-26 Oct) Aquanaut Commander NEEMO 15 (9 days - terminated early due to approaching Hurricane Rina).

2012:

Deputy, CB Soyuz Branch.

2013:

Deputy, CB Soyuz Branch (until Mar); (Mar 2013 - Jan 2016) Chief, CB ISS Operations Branch.

2014:

Chief, CB ISS Operations Branch; (Nov 2014 - Feb 2015) Team Member, Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) 2014-2015 Field Season.

2015:

ANSMET 2014-2015 Field Season team member (until Feb); Chief, CB ISS Operations Branch.

2016:

(Jan only) Chief, CB ISS Operations Branch.

2017:

(13 Mar) Identified as assigned as BUp Soyuz MS-06 (EO-53/54) and also began training at TsPK studying the design and systems of Soyuz MS and the Russian segment of ISS; (28 Mar) NASA confirms assignment as BUp Soyuz MS-06 (EO-53/54); (30 Aug) passed examination training session on Soyuz MS spacecraft; (31 Aug) passed examination training session on ISS Russian segment simulator; (13 Sep) served as BUp FE during launch of Soyuz MS-06; ISS expedition training; (30 Nov) approved by Russian Commission as BUp FE-2  Soyuz MS-10; ISS expedition training.

2018:

ISS expedition training; (8 Feb) Soyuz winter survival training; ISS expedition training; (17 May) reportedly replaced on main crew of Soyuz MS-12 by Christina Koch; (Jun) reportedly replaced on MS-10 (EO-57/58) BUp crew by Canadian David Saint-Jacques; (May 2018 - Jan 2020) Chief, CB Assigned Crew Branch.

2019:

Chief, CB Assigned Crew Branch; (18 Sep) participated in tests of (Crew Dragon) astronaut escape system, Launch Complex 39A, KSC.

2020:

(Jan only) Chief, CB Assigned Crew Branch; (Feb) late assignment to SpaceX Crew 1 flight; (31 Mar) confirmed as MS FE SpaceX Crew 1; SpaceX ISS crew training; (15 Jun 2020 - May 2021) flew as MS-2 SpaceX Crew 1 (Resilient) and FE-13 EO-64A/B; IN SPACE.

2021:

IN SPACE, FE-13 EO-64B; (15 Apr) replaced Sergei Ryzikhov as ISS CDR, 62nd ISS and 3rd female ISS CDR; (27 Apr) CDR ISS EO-65A (11 days); transferred command of ISS to Akihiko Hoshide; (2 May) splashdown (167 days 6 hrs 29 min 28 sec); post-flight debrief and recovery.

2022:

(Jan 2022 - Mar 2024) Supervisor, Class of 2021 astronauts; (Nov 2022 - early 2025) Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office.

2023:

Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office; Supervisor, Class of 2021 astronauts.

2024:

Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office; Supervisor, Class of 2021 astronauts (until Mar); Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office.

2025:

Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office (until early 2025); (10 Jul) Retired from NASA after 38 years at JSC and 21 years as an astronaut.

 

 

POST-ASTRONAUT EXPERIENCE

2025:

 

Shannon WALKER Space Flight Missions

Mission

Vehicle

Position

Dates

DD/MM/YY

Duration

DD:HH:MM:SS

EVAs

ISS EO-24/25

Soyuz TMA-19

Flt Eng 1

15/06/2010-26/11/2010

163:07:10:43

None

ISS EO-64/65

Dragon Crew 1

MS 2

16/11/2020-02/02/2021

167:06:29:28

None

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missions Flown:

2

Total Flight Time:

330:13:40:11

None

 

 

 

 

 

 
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This astronaut profile is copyright Astro Info Service Ltd 2025. 2nd Edition.
1st Edition published 10 June 2004.

All images are courtesy of NASA, unless otherwise stated.
Expedition 24 FE and NASA astronaut Shannon Walker poses for photographers after performing the traditional door signing ceremony at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, before heading off to suit up with her colleagues for their launch.
EO-24/25 FE Shannon Walker assists EO-23/24 FE Tracy Caldwell with her Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit, in preparation for a spacewalk training session at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near NASA JSC.
NASA FE Shannon Walker works on the COLLOID experiment in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), within the Columbus Laboratory on the ISS during Expedition 24.
Wearing her Russian Sokol launch and entry suit, Shannon Walker gives a "thumbs up" signal while occupying her seat in the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft docked to the ISS Walker and her colleagues, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin and NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, were about to relocate the Soyuz from Zvezda to the Rassvet Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM1) during EO-24.
In the space station flight operations control room at Mission Control Houston (MCC-H), ISS spacecraft Capcom Shannon Walker and lead FD Joel Montalbano (right) keep up with operations during the STS-118 mission to ISS. Chief of the Astronaut Office Steve Lindsey stands behind them.
The crew of the NEEMO 15 underwater expedition pose for the camera. (l to r) JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, CSA astronaut David Saint-Jacques, Cornell astrophysicist Steve Squyres and NASA astronaut Shannon Walker. They spent nine days in the undersea habitat.
During EO-64, FE Shannon Walker takes a pause from her maintenance work to smile for a portrait inside the Unity module on ISS.