OFFICERS DESTINED FOR SPACE : EDWARDS PAIR TO JOIN NASA SHUTTLE PROGRAM.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

A test pilot who would rather be out on a motorcycle than flying and a flight test engineer who was once told he had a heart condition that wouldn't let him fly are on their way to being astronauts.

Maj. Duane ``Digger'' Carey, an F-16 test pilot, and Capt. Rex Walheim, a flight test engineer and instructor at the Air Force Test Pilot School, were picked to be a part of the space shuttle program.

They will report in August to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for a year of training before being certified as shuttle crew members.

Carey was selected for the shuttle pilot training program, and Walheim was selected for the mission specialist program.

``I've always strongly felt the need to explore and the need for mankind to go into new frontiers,'' Carey said. ``It's great to be part of that quest.''

Both men got the good news April 29 in separate phone calls from astronaut Bob Cabana.

``He said, `I'm usually the guy who calls and tells people they didn't make it - but not this time,' '' Walheim said.

Carey grew up in St. Paul, Minn., in a blue-collar family. Carey said no one in his family had ever gone to college and the idea never occurred to him. After a couple of years of traveling around the country on his motorcycle, he started looking for a career.

``My dad said, `If you want a job that isn't boring, go into the military,' '' Carey said.

Carey decided that if he was going into the military it would be as an officer, and that meant college.

Carey got his commission through the ROTC program while earning a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering and mechanics in 1981 at the University of Minnesota. The following year he earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering.

Before graduating from the Test Pilot School, Carey flew A-10 attack planes and F-16 fighters.

``If I had a year of doing anything I wanted, it wouldn't be flying,'' Carey said. ``It would be a year on a motorcycle exploring.''

Both men had applied once before. After the first time, Carey wasn't too sure he wanted to spend the effort putting another package together to apply again.

``My wife said, `If you don't try one more time, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life,' '' Carey said.

Walheim grew up in San Carlos, south of San Francisco, and became interested in flying through his father, a former B-17 bomber pilot. Walheim got his Air Force commission through the ROTC program at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1984. He earned a master's degree from the University of Houston in 1989.

Walheim went to pilot training but was told he had a heart murmur and that he would never be a pilot.

``I thought that's where the dream died,'' Walheim said. ``I thought it was the end.''

Walheim served a couple of years at a missile defense base in South Dakota and then went to the Johnson Space Center as a space shuttle flight controller in 1986. Walheim was there through 1989.

``That's where you really get excited about being an astronaut,'' Walheim said.

Walheim had heard of the flight test engineer school at Edwards and thought that would be the way to get to fly. After serving as a radar upgrade program manager in Colorado, Walheim came to the Test Pilot School in 1991, the same year as Carey.

Walheim was honored as the distinguished graduate of his class.

Also while at Edwards, Walheim found out he did not have the heart murmur. Walheim now has a private pilot license and has logged 60 hours of flying time. As a flight test engineer, Walheim has logged 490 hours of flying time, primarily in the F-16 where he has more than 300 hours.

After getting the good news at work, both men called their wives.

``It seemed like such a long shot,'' said Margie Walheim, who is expecting the couple's first child in August. ``I'm in shock. I can't believe it.''

Cheryl Carey wasn't home at the time. She was helping out at the school the couple's children, Zack, 11, and Erin, 9, attend. Carey said her husband left the good news on their answering machine.

``He said, `I've got to go fly. I want to let you know Rex and I got picked up by NASA,' '' she said.

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Photo: (color) Air Force officers Maj. Duane ``Digger'' Car ey, left, and Capt. Rex Walheim will train to become shuttle astronauts.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News