[Deathwatch] Wally Schirra, astronaut, 84

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Astronaut Wally Schirra, fifth American in space, dies at 84
POSTED: 12:28 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/05/03/schirra.obit/index.html

(CNN) -- Wally Schirra, one of the original astronauts in the Mercury 7
project, died Thursday at age 84, NASA officials said.

Schirra died in California, the officials said. He was the fifth
American in space and the third to orbit Earth.

He was the only astronaut who flew in three of the nation's pioneering
space programs: Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

NASA selected Schirra as one of the first group of astronauts, along
with Gordon Cooper, Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Alan Shepard, Gus
Grissom and Deke Slayton.

He flew on the fifth Project Mercury flight, orbiting the Earth six
times on October 3, 1962, and was commander of the Gemini 6 flight,
which launched December 15, 1965.

Schirra was commander of Apollo 7, the first manned flight of the
Apollo spacecraft and the Saturn 1B rocket. He and crew mates Walter
Cunningham and Donn Eisele successfully checked all the Apollo systems
during the 11-day mission that launched October 11, 1968.

The Apollo 7 mission qualified the spacecraft for later moon missions.
Schirra retired from the Navy and NASA in 1969.

He co-authored "The Real Space Cowboys" with Ed Buckbee, a former NASA
public affairs officer and the first executive director of the U.S.
Space & Rocket Center.

The book highlights the Mercury astronauts and their contribution to
the U.S. space program.

Many thanks to TheLenGuy for posting this obituary