# Alta Walker

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**Alta Walker** (April 28, 1942 – August 1, 2015) also known as **A.S. Walker** was an American [geologist](/source/Geologist) for the [National Air and Space Museum](/source/National_Air_and_Space_Museum),[1] the [US Geological Survey](/source/United_States_Geological_Survey), and [Department of the Interior](/source/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior),[2] where she mapped the moons of Jupiter as well as the dark side of Earth’s Moon. Walker participated in a [National Academy of Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Sciences) scientific study group in 1980 in [China](/source/China). Her research on [desertification](/source/Desertification) was featured in *[American Scientist](/source/American_Scientist)* with her article, “Deserts of China.”

According to her obituary, she was one of the first female Americans to be an astronaut candidate.[2]

Walker authored several books on deserts, geology and resources between 1981 and 2000<,[3] was a contributing writer of the book *Geomorphology from Space* and co-authored *Rocks and War: Geology and the Civil War Campaign of Second Manassas* with her partner [E-An Zen](/source/E-An_Zen).

## Early life and education

Walker was from [Ogdensburg, New York](/source/Ogdensburg,_New_York) and her parents were William and Kathleen Walker and she graduated from [Ogdensburg Free Academy](/source/Ogdensburg_Free_Academy) in 1960.[2] She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in English from [Syracuse University](/source/Syracuse_University), a Master of Arts in Earth Science from the [University of Minnesota](/source/University_of_Minnesota) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Geochemistry from [Rice University](/source/Rice_University). Her doctoral dissertation was titled "Inert Gas Investigations of Five Apollo 11 and 12 Breccias and of an Apollo 17 Soil Sample".[2]

## References

1. ["Alta Walker"](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110551600). *www.wikidata.org*. Retrieved 2022-11-17.

1. ["Dr. Alta Walker"](https://www.nny360.com/news/obituaries/dr-alta-walker/article_3596dca1-8b9f-5d19-b4fc-718c378169dd.html). *NNY360*. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 2022-11-17.

1. ["A. S. Walker (Walker, A. S. (Alta Sharon), 1942-) | The Online Books Page"](https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Walker,%20A.%20S.%20(Alta%20Sharon),%201942-). *onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu*. Retrieved 2022-11-17.

## External links

- [*American Scientist Magazine*, Volume 70](https://www.jstor.org/stable/i27851538)
- [Geomorphology from Space](http://geoinfo.amu.edu.pl/wpk/geos/GEO_COMPLETE_TOC.html)
- [*Rocks and War: Geology and the Civil War Campaign of Second Manassas*](https://books.google.com/books/about/Rocks_and_War.html?id=p5t3AAAAMAAJ)
- [Inert Gas Investigations of Five Apollo 11 and 12 Breccias and of an Apollo 17 Soil Sample](https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/15336)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alta Walker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alta_Walker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alta_Walker?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.