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ML_schirra_bkp.htm
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Astronaut Wally Schirra, mission commander, aboard Apollo VII. (NASA photo)
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Capt. Walter M. Schirra Jr.
From Original Mercury Seven To Apollo VII, Schirra Had History-Making Career In Space
By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Military.com Columnist
Capt. Walter M. Schirra Jr. is the only astronaut to have flown in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo mission programs. From his first flight in 1962 to his last in 1968, Schirra logged a total of 295 hours in space. One of our nation’s true pioneers, he is also a military veteran whose career was launched by pride in his father’s service as a World War I pilot.
Wally Schirra graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1945 and became a naval aviator three years later. During the Korean War, he was an exchange pilot for the U.S. Air Force, flying 90 combat missions in the F-86 Sabre. Schirra downed two MIGs on those missions and received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Selected as one of the seven original Mercury astronauts in 1959, Schirra’s first flight was the Mercury VII, the fifth Project Mercury flight, on Oct. 3, 1962. It lasted nine hours, 15 minutes. Since on the previous mission astronaut Scott Carpenter had failed to make a safe landing, Schirra’s “textbook mission,” conducted with minimal experiments but flawless execution, was a great success.
On the history-making Gemini VI flight, Schirra was in the command seat. This, the fifth manned flight, was the first rendezvous mission in the Gemini program and launched from Cape Kennedy on Dec. 15, 1965. Although the first attempt to dock with the Gemini VII was aborted, Schirra’s cool handling meant the ejection handles were not pulled, and three days later, Schirra and his pilot, Thomas Stafford, were able to launch and rendezvous as planned.
Schirra was commander of Apollo VII on Oct. 11, 1968, the first test flight of the redesigned Apollo after the first crew died in the Jan. 27, 1967, launch pad fire. Although Schirra and his crew had difficulties with the ground controllers, the flight was a complete success and restored faith in the Apollo program. Following that flight, Schirra retired from the Navy in 1969 and went into private enterprise. |
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