Rex Joseph Walheim (born October 10, 1962) is a retired United States Air Force officer, engineer and NASA astronaut.

[2] Walheim graduated from San Carlos High School in 1980 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984.

Following graduation, he was assigned to the F-16 Combined Test Force at Edwards where he was a project manager, and then commander of the avionics and armament flight.

Walheim and his crewmates spent five days saturation diving from the Aquarius habitat as a space analogue for working and training under extreme environmental conditions.

The mission was delayed due to Hurricane Isadore, forcing National Undersea Research Center managers to shorten it to an underwater duration of five days.

Then, three days into their underwater mission, the crew members were told that Tropical Storm Lili was headed in their direction and to prepare for an early departure from Aquarius.

[3] During the inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, in Washington, D.C., Walheim marched in the parade carrying an American flag and wearing a prototype of NASA's next generation spacesuit.

[2] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.