Walter Schirra as a Mercury 7 astronaut, in a pressure suit with a model of Mercury capsule behind him. NASA photo (AP Photo )
Posted on 05/03/2007 3:36:42 PM PDT by bd476
Walter M. Schirra Jr., One of the Original Seven Astronauts, Is Dead
Schirra Commanded Three Missions Leading to Moon Landings
By NED POTTER
May 3, 2007
Walter M. "Wally" Schirra Jr., one of America's original seven astronauts, has died at the age of 84, said NASA.
Schirra, said NASA, died of natural causes.
Chosen from the Navy to become one of NASA's Mercury astronauts in 1959, Schirra went on to become the first man ever to make three flights in space.
Schirra was a jovial man and a serious pilot. "Levity is appropriate in a dangerous trade," he once said in a Life magazine profile.
"It was impossible to know Wally, even to meet him, without realizing at once that he was a man who relished the lighter side of life, the puns and jokes and pranks that can enliven a gathering," said NASA's administrator Michael Griffin in a statement. "But this was a distraction from the true nature of the man. His record as a pioneering space pilot shows the real stuff of which he was made. We who have inherited today's space program will always be in his debt."
In 1962 Schirra flew a Mercury spacecraft, which he named Sigma 7, on a six-orbit flight around the Earth.
In 1965, as commander of Gemini 6, he performed the first rendezvous in orbit with another spacecraft -- Gemini 7 -- which was already on a 14-day endurance flight. It was a complex, delicate maneuver -- one considered essential if Americans were going to make it to the moon.
Along with his co-pilot Thomas Stafford, Schirra brought his ship within six feet of Gemini 7, flown by astronauts Frank Borman and James Lovell. They flew in formation at 17,500 miles an hour, 185 miles above the Earth's surface.
Mercury, Gemini and Apollo
Schirra's final flight in October 1968 was the first manned test of the Apollo spacecraft that would ultimately take astronauts to the moon. Colleagues agreed that merely climbing into the cabin of Apollo 7 took nerve. Three astronauts had died in what would have been the first Apollo spacecraft to fly; they were trapped in a flash fire during a test on the launch pad in January 1967. The ship was completely redesigned.
Schirra and his crewmates, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham, spent 11 days flying Apollo 7, sending back the first television pictures from an American spacecraft, complaining about head colds -- and restoring NASA's confidence that it could meet President John F. Kennedy's mandate to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.
"Those early pioneering flights of Mercury, the performances of Gemini and the trips to the moon established us once and for all as what I like to call a spacefaring nation," Schirra later wrote. "Like England, Spain and Portugal crossing the seas in search of their nations' greatness, so we reached for the skies and ennobled our nation."
Schirra was born and raised in northern New Jersey and in the suburbs of New York City, and fell in love with flying. He bicycled from home in Oradell, N.J., to nearby Teterboro Airport, and already knew how to fly when he went to college at the U.S. Naval Academy.
After he left NASA in 1969, he worked as a television commentator during the Apollo moon landings, served on corporate boards and was an engineering consultant. He retired to Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., near San Diego.
With his passing, only two of the original seven astronauts -- John Glenn and Scott Carpenter -- are still alive.
Some of our hopes and dreams lay closer to reality because of him, may God rest his soul.
Wally Schirra was a very good friend to my history advocacy group, specifically for what we’ve accomplished and continue to strive for in saving/preserving a local landmark in one of the NJ towns he grew up in. He gave us hope, support and praise in our efforts, and generously let us use his likeness and quotes in our promotional materials. We are all personally grateful and will miss him a great deal... God Bless and rest in peace, star traveler.
Biographical Data
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas 77058
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
NAME: Walter M. Schirra (Captain, USN, Ret.)
NASA Astronaut (former)PERSONAL DATA: Born March 12, 1923, in Hackensack, New Jersey.
EDUCATION: Newark College of Engineering (N.J.I.T.), 1941; U.S. Naval Academy, 1942-1945 B.S.; Safety Officers School (U.S.C.), 1957; U.S. Navy Test Pilot School (N.A.T.C.) 1958; NASA Astronaut Training, 1959-1969; Honorary Doctorate in Astronautical Engineering, Lafayette College, 1969; Honorary Doctorate in Science, U.S.C., 1969; Honorary Doctorate in Astronautics, N.J.I.T., 1969; Trustee, Detroit Institute of Technology, 1969-1976; Advisor, Colorado State University, 1977-1982; Trustee, National College, South Dakota, 1983-1987.
AWARDS: The Collier Trophy, 1962; Kincheloe Award, SETP, 1963; Haley Astronautics Award - AIAA, 1963, 1969; Harmon International Trophy, 1965.
AWARDS-MILITARY: U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Medal; Distinguished Flying Cross (3); Air Medal (3); NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2); NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1); Philippines Legion of Honor (Commander).
HALLS OF FAME INDUCTED: International Aviation Hall of Fame, San Diego, CA, 1970; New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame, Teterboro, NJ, 1977 (approx.); International Space Hall of Fame, Alamagordo, NM, 1981; National Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, OH, 1986.
CLUBS: Society of Experimental Test Pilots (Fellow), 1958- present; AAS (Fellow), 1960-present; Explorers Club (Fellow) 1965-present; Makai Country Club, Kauai (Princeville), Hi, 1971-present; Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club, 1985-present; San Diego Yacht Club, 1987-present; Charlie Russell Riders, Charter Member, 1985-present; Rancheros Visitadores, Member, 1989-present; Desert Caballeros, Member, 1989-present; Durango Mountain Caballeros, Member, 1989-present; Q.E.D., San Diego, Ca, 1989-present; The Golden Eagles, (Naval Aviators), 1989- present.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Captain Schirra was one of the seven Mercury Astronauts named by NASA in April 1959. On October 3, 1962; he piloted the six orbit Sigma 7 Mercury flight; a flight which lasted 9 hours, 15 minutes. The spacecraft attained a velocity of 17,557 miles per hour at an altitude of 175 statue miles and traveled almost 144,000 statute miles before re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Recovery of the Sigma 7 spacecraft occurred in the Pacific Ocean about 275 miles northeast of Midway Island.
Schirra next served as backup command pilot for the Gemini III Mission and on December 15-16, occupied the Command Pilot seat on the history-making Gemini 6 flight. The highlight of this mission was a successful rendezvous of Gemini 6 with the already orbiting Gemini 7 spacecraft, thus, accomplishing the first rendezvous of two manned maneuverable spacecraft and establishing another space first for the United States. Known as a "text book" pilot, Schirra remained in the spacecraft following his Mercury and Gemini flight and is the first Astronaut to be brought aboard recovery ships twice in this manner. With him on Gemini 6, was Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford.
He was the Command Pilot on Apollo VII, the first manned flight test of the three direction United States spacecraft. Apollo VII began on October 11, 1968, with Command Module Pilot Donn F. Eisele and Lunar Module Pilot Walter Cunningham. Schirra participated in, and executed, maneuvers enabling crew members to perform exercises in transposition and docking and orbit rendezvous with the S-IVB stage from the Saturn IB launch vehicle. The mission completed eight successful tests and maneuvering ignitions of the service module propulsion engine, measured the accuracy of performance of all spacecraft systems, and provided the first effective television transmission of on-board crew activities. Apollo VII was placed in an orbit with an apogee of 153.5 nautical miles and a perigee of 122.6 nautical miles.
The 260 hour 4.5 million mile shake down flight was concluded on October 22, with splashdown occurring in the Atlantic some 8 miles from the carrier Essex (only 3/10 of a mile from the originally predicted aiming point). Captain Schirra has logged a total of 295 hours and 15 minutes in space. He is unique in that he is the only Astronaut to have flown Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: Director, Imperial American (Oil & Gas), 1967, 68, 69; President, Regency Investors (Leasing), 1969-1970; Founder, Environmental Control Co. (ECCO), 1970-1973; Director, J.D. Jewel (Chicken Comp.) 1971, 72, 73; Director, First National Bank, Englewood, Co., 1971-1978; Belgian Consulate for Colorado and New Mexico, 1971-1984; Director, V.P., Chairman, Sernco, 1973-1974; Director, Rocky Mountain Airlines, 1973-1984; Director, Carlsberg Oil & Gas, 1974, 1975; V. P., Johns-Manville Sales Corp., Denver, Co, 1975, 76, 77; Director, Advertising Unlimited, Sleepy Eye, MN, 1978-87; Director, Electromedics, Denver, Co, 1979-1985; President, Prometheus Systems, Inc., 1980-1981; Director, Finalco (Leasing Co.), McLean, Va, 1983-1988; Director, Cherokee Data Systems, Boulder, Co, 1984-1986; Director, Net Air Int., Van Nuys, Ca, 1982-1989; Director, Kimberly-Clark, Neenah, Wi, 1983-1991; Independent Consultant, Schirra Enterprises, 1979-Present; Director, Zero Plus Telecommunications, Inc., Campbell, Ca, 1986-Present.
CIVIC ACTIVITIES: Advisory Committee, Oceans Foundations, San Diego, Ca, 1985-present; Advisory Board/Council, U.S. National Parks (Interior), 1973-1985; Director, Denver Organizing Committee for 1976 Olympics, 1973-1975; Advisor, Flight for Life, Mercy Hospital, Denver, Co, 1978-1986; Trustee, Colorado Outward Bound School (COB), 1970-1974; COB Regional Trustee, 1988-present; Advisory Board, International "Up With People", 1976-present; Founder/Director, Mercury Seven Foundation, 1982-present; Director, San Diego Aerospace Museum, 1984-present; Trustee, Scripps Aquarium, 1985-present; International Council, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, Ca, 1989-present; Sharps Hospital, Foundations Board, San Diego, Ca, 1988- present.
PUBLICATIONS: We Seven, 1960; Schirra's Space, 1988.
DECEMBER 1993
This is the only version available from NASA. Updates must be sought direct from the above named individual.
Biography
Already a thread someplace.
Prayers for him and those close to him.
Amen. That was beautifully written, Joe.
God Bless Astronaut Schirra and his family. Rest in peace, Wally and thank you.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience about his kindness and generosity, Fudd Fan."Wally Schirra was a very good friend to my history advocacy group, specifically for what we’ve accomplished and continue to strive for in saving/preserving a local landmark in one of the NJ towns he grew up in.
Fudd Fan wrote:
I meet Mr. Cunningham after he gave a speech to our group last year. To say that marine is disappointed in what we have become is an understatement. He says we would have never attempted manned space travel if we tried to start today. This idea that every last ounce of risk has to be squeezed out of a challenge is distasteful to Mr. Cunningham. He thinks we have lost of explorer way. Iraq kind of makes his arguments a little less strong. it’s true a nation begins to recede once it’s will to risk adventure dies. Iraq has re-vitalized our nation because it’s forced us to take the adventurer’s risk.
God bless Mr. Schirra and condolences to his family.
Looking back, it’s amazing how big the original astronauts were in the public imagination. I can name the original seven and many of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts, but none of the current ones. Wally Schirra, RIP
He is with GOD now in Heaven, the Ultimate FINAL and ETERNAL FLIGHT!!! GOD Bless Him now and Forever!
And thank you for the thread.
He’s now reunited with his bretheren fro the Original 7: Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, Deke Slayton, and Gordo Cooper. Also, his Command Module Pilot from Apollo 7 Donn Eselie.
With Walter Shirra’s departure, one quarter of all crew members who have had a seat in an Apollo spacecraft form Apollo 7 to Apollo - Soyuz Test Project are no longer with us. That would be 9 out of 38 individual crew members.
RIP Wally. Enjoy your fourth, final, and greatest flight of all.
He was a great hero during the Cold War. If any of you have never seen the movie “ The Right Stuff”, I recommend it.
The Right Stuff is in our movie library and we watch it at least once a year, it had just the right blend of heroics, mysticism and macho, a really great movie. And, of course, the book was great too. I won't say better because this is one movie that is as good as or possibly better than the book IMHO.
I would also recommend “From the Earth to the Moon”, though it is primarily about the Apollo program.
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