Hildegard Knef
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Table of Contents
Occupation
Family Info
Siblings
Spouses
Children
About the Wally Schirra
Walter Marty Schirra Jr.was an American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States’ first effort to put humans into space. On October 3, 1962, he flew the six-orbit, nine-hour, Mercury-Atlas 8 mission, in a spacecraft he nicknamed Sigma 7, becoming the fifth American and ninth human to travel into space. In December 1965, as part of the two-man Gemini program, he achieved the first space rendezvous, station-keeping his Gemini 6A spacecraft within 1 footof the sister Gemini 7 spacecraft. In October 1968, he commanded Apollo 7, an 11-day low Earth orbit shakedown test of the three-man Apollo Command/Service Module and the first crewed launch for the Apollo program.
Before becoming an astronaut, Schirra graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1945, and served at sea during World War II. In 1948, he became a naval aviator, served as a fighter pilot and flew 90 combat missions in the Korean War, and then in 1958 he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Schirra retired from the Navy in 1969 with the rank of captain.
Schirra was the first astronaut to go into space three times, and the only astronaut to have flown into space in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. In total, he logged 295 hours and 15 minutes in space. After Apollo 7, he retired as a captain from the U.S. Navy as well as from NASA, subsequently becoming a consultant to CBS News in the network’s coverage of following Apollo flights. Schirra joined Walter Cronkite as co-anchor for all seven of NASA’s Moon landing missions.
Frequently Asked Questions
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- 1.
Dad went to Canada to learn how to fly with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He took me on my first airplane ride, where I could have a hand on the stick.
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- 2.
Some of the wives didn’t keep up with the program. It started breaking apart during the Apollo days.
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- 3.
Kids today don’t want to get married. Too many of their friends have been married and divorced already. They just don’t believe in it.
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- 4.
John Glenn craved the publicity. I think even John would admit that. When he went into politics, that became pretty obvious! He knew how to do public relations.
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- 5.
He who commands an Apollo flight will not command a second one.
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- 6.
Another real problem was over putting our helmets on for re-entry, because we all had severe head colds. They couldn’t come up there and make us. Houston, you have a problem!
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- 7.
I played English football – soccer – instead of American football, because we couldn’t afford the equipment.
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- 8.
We spent a lot of time in simulators. We were going to do it right.
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- 9.
NASA should start thinking about this planet.
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- 10.
At the end of our NASA careers, no one had a place for us in the military.
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- 11.
I’ve always thought space station is a great name. It should be like a gas station where we go for service and supplies before heading further out.
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- 12.
Each test pilot I know considers him, or herself, now that there are women, to be the very best. It’s very demeaning to step down the ladder once in a while.
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- 13.
When people have asked if I’d like to go in the Shuttle, I said you don’t get to fly it, except for landing, which I’d love to do. I wouldn’t go unless I could command it.
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- 14.
When a test pilot comes off a flight, there is typically another pilot who is going to take it up, and he believes in the debriefing. You don’t keep something to yourself.
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- 15.
When a man looks across a street, sees a pretty girl, and waves at her, that’s not a rendezvous, that’s a passing acquaintance. When he walks across the street and nibbles on her ear, that’s a rendezvous!
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- 16.
I was told having a website would help me. I have yet to figure out why my life story needs to be on the web.
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- 17.
I saw the booster, not Sputnik, flying by, and I said, maybe this is the way we should be going, not just sitting back waiting for something to happen.
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- 18.
Kennedy had made a mess in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. He had to do something to look good. The Apollo program of going to the Moon was quite a goal,.
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- 19.
I remember seeing war hero Jimmy Doolittle fly a Gee Bee racer there. He was my childhood hero. Many years later, I was lucky enough to go hunting with him.
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- 20.
I don’t think the space station will ever do anything for exploration. Putting people up there for a year or more is the only way you will get anywhere near the exploration concept.
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- 21.
I don’t go along with going to Moon first to build a launch pad to go to Mars. We should go to Mars from Earth orbit. We have already been to the Moon; we’ve already practiced.
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