From 1957 to 1989 Dr. Walberg was employed at the NASA Langley Research Center where he held positions ranging from Research Engineer to Deputy Director for Space. Following retirement from NASA, he taught at the NASA/George Washington University Joint Institute for Advancement of Flight Sciences and then at North Carolina State University where he was Director of the Mars Mission Research Center in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. In 1999 he retired from teaching and established Walberg Aerospace, a research company specializing in entry aerothermodynamics, trajectory  optimization and planetary mission analysis.

As Head of the Thermodynamics and Combustion Section, the Gas Radiation Section and the Aerothermodynamics Branch at NASA Langley (1966-1979), Dr. Walberg was responsible for:

• Directing a broad-based program of theoretical and experimental research on high-temperature gas dynamics and ablation
• Playing a lead role in the analysis and testing of the Apollo Heat Shield
• Leading a team that developed some of the first rigorous analyses of radiatively-coupled flow fields
• Supporting the Viking, Pioneer Venus and Galileo Probe missions

In 1979, Dr Walberg was selected to participate in the NASA Executive Development Program in NASA Headquarters. In this role, he:

• Was responsible for overall long-range planning for space transportation technology

• Served as Deputy Chairman for the F.Y.1981 OAST Space Technology Assessment

As Chief of the Space Systems Division at NASA Langley (1980-1988) he:

• Planned, and directed the Division’s program in support of current and planned NASA missions. The program emphasized the aerothermodynamics of advanced space vehicles, space energy systems, the development of computer-aided analysis techniques and systems analyses of spacecraft for future missions
• Chaired the Flight Readiness Revenue for the Galileo heat shield

From 1970 to 1987, Dr Walberg served as Chairman of the Reentry Sub-Panel of the Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel. In this capacity, he:

        Played a key role in the Nuclear Safety Reviews for all U.S. missions which involved the use of nuclear power sources in Earth orbit and beyond

           Directed the reviews of all reentry analyses and participated in the development of the Safety Evaluation Reports for the Pioneer, Viking, LES, Voyager, and Galileo missions.

As Deputy Director for Space for the Langley Research Center (1988-1989), Dr. Walberg worked with the Director for Space to plan, direct and coordinate the space-related research, science and technology activities of the Center.

As Director of the Mars Mission Research Center at N.C. State (1991-1999), he provided overall administration for the Center programs, personally led the Center’s mission analysis and design activities and taught graduate and undergraduate courses in hypersonic aerodynamics, celestial and orbital mechanics and spacecraft design.

After establishing Walberg Aerospace in 1999 Dr. Walberg  has worked for NASA Langley on the Revolutionary Aerospace Concepts Program and has carried out reentry safety analyses on the Stirling Radioisotope Power System for Teledyne Energy Systems and the Multimission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator System for Boeing/Rocketdyne. 

Education, Honors and Publications:

                Ph.D.  Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, 1974

                 M.S.    Aerospace Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and

                 State University, 1961

                 B.S.    Aeronautical Engineering Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1956

• Langley Special Achievement Group Awards for contributions to Planetary Probe Missions, 1978

NASA Group Award for contributions to the successful first flight of the Shuttle, 1981

Senior Executive Service Bonus Award, 1981

Langley Special Achievement Award, 1983

NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for contributions to the success of the

Nation's planetary probe and manned space missions, 1983

Elected Fellow AIAA, 1988

Presidential Rank - Meritorious Government Executive, 1988

• Publications related to entry aerothermodynamics and planetary missions (15 of 55)

1.Walberg, Gerald D., "Analytical Study of Diffusion-Controlled Char

Oxidation and Its Effect on Steady-State Ablation of Plastic Materials,"

NASA TR R-242, July 1966.

2. Walberg, Gerald D. and Sullivan, Edward M., "Ablation Heat Shields for

Planetary Entries--A Technology Review," Presented at the ASTM/IES/AIAA

Space Stimulation Conference, Gaithersburg, MD, September 14-16, 1970.

3. Olstad, W. B., Jones, J. J., Sutton, K., and Walberg, G. D., "Langley

Research Center Entry Aerothermodynamic Technology Development in Support

of Pioneer Venus Multiprobe Mission Studies," AIAA Paper 75-1161, Sept.,1975.

4. Walberg, Gerald D., Jones, Jim J., Olstad, Walter B., Sutton, Kenneth,

Moss, James N., and Powell, Richard W., "Mass Loss Shape Change and

Real-Gas Aerodynamic Effects on a Jovian Atmospheric Probe," ACTA

Astronautica, Vol. 4, Pergammon Press, 1977, pp. 555-575.

5. Walberg, Gerald D., "The Next Generation of Reentry Vehicles-NASA's View,"

Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Brussels, Belgium, February 1984.

6. Walberg, Gerald D., "A Survey of Aeroassisted Orbit Transfer," AIAA Journal

of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 22, No. 1, January-February 1985.

7. Walberg, Gerald D., "Overseas Lecturer - 1986, Institution of Engineers

Australia", Topics Included:

(1) “Major Space Technology Initiatives Into the 21st Century", (2)

"Computer-Aided Design Studies in the LaRC Space Systems Division," and (3)

"Aeroassisted Orbit Transfer”.

8. Walberg, Gerald D., "A Review of Aerobraking for Mars Mission," IAF 88-196,

39th IAF Congress, Bangalore, India, October 8-15, 1988.

9. Walberg, Gerald D., "Hypersonic Flight Experience," Philosophical

Transactions A., The Royal Society of London, Vol. 335, March-April 1991.

10 Walberg, G. D., Aerocapture for Manned Mars Missions - Status and

Challenges.  AIAA-91-2870, presented at the AIAA Atmospheric Flight

Mechanics Conference, Aug. 12-14, 1991.

11. Walberg, G. D., "How Shall We Go to Mars?  A Survey of Mars Mission

Scenarios," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, March-April 1993.

12. Meyer, J. L., Silverberg, L., and Walberg, G., "Fuel Optimal Bank Angle

Control for Lunar-Return Aerocapture," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets.

13. Jits, R. Y., and Walberg, G. D., "Analysis of a Biconic Aerocapture Vehicle

 for the 2001, 2003 and 2005 Mars Mission Opportunities", AIAA

 Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV., Jan. 1998.

14. Walberg, G. D. and Birge, B. K., “Terminal Guidance Techniques for a Mars

Precision Lander”, AIAA Paper AIAA 2000-5342, Space 2000 Conference and

Exhibit, 19-21 Sept. 2000, Long Beach CA.

15. Jits, R. and Walberg, G., “Blended Control, Predictor-Corrector Guidance: An

Enabling Technology for Mars Aerocapture”, IAF Paper IAF-01-A.7.05,

52^nd International Astronautical Congress, Toulouse, France, 1-5 Oct. 2001