Carl E. Walz

Graduated from Charles F. Brush High School, Lyndhurst, Ohio, in 1973; received a bachelor of science degree in physics from Kent State University, Ohio, in 1977, and a master of science in solid state physics from John Carroll University, Ohio, in 1979.

From 1979 to 1982, Walz was responsible for analysis of radioactive samples from the United States Atomic Energy Detection System at the 1155th Technical Operations Squadron, McClellan Air Force Base, California. The subsequent year was spent in study as a flight test engineer at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California. From January 1984 to June 1987, Walz served as a Flight Test Engineer to the F-16 Combined Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base, where he worked on a variety of F-16C airframe avionics and armament development programs. From July 1987 to June 1990, he served as a Flight Test Manager at Detachment 3, Air Force Flight Test Center.

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Walz is a veteran of four space flights, and has logged 231 days in space. He was a mission specialist on STS-51 (1993), was the Orbiter flight engineer (MS-2) on STS-65 (1994), was a mission specialist on STS-79 (1996), and served as flight engineer on ISS Expedition 4 (2001–2002). Carl Walz and fellow astronaut Dan Bursch currently hold the U.S. space flight endurance record of 196 days in space.

The Expedition 4 crew launched on December 5, 2001, aboard STS-108 and docked with the International Space Station on December 7, 2001. During a 6½ month stay aboard the Space Station, the crew of three (two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut) performed flight tests of the station hardware, conducted internal and external maintenance tasks, and developed the capability of the station to support the addition of science experiments. The crew spent 196 days in space establishing a U.S. space flight endurance record for Carl Walz and crewmate Dan Bursch. Wearing the Russian Orlan space suit, Walz logged 11 hours and 52 minutes of EVA time in two separate spacewalks. The Expedition 4 crew returned to Earth aboard STS-111, with Endeavour landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 19, 2002.