May 3, 2007

AND HE TAKES THE TRIPLE CROWN WITH HIM:

Astronaut Wally Schirra, fifth American in space, dies at 84 (CNN, 5/03/07)

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.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 3, 2007 8:02 PM
Comments

God Bless Wally Schirra. When I was a young man I was lucky enough to be on vacation with my family in FL for the Apollo 11 launch. One night at dinner I recognized Mr. Schirra at another table with his wife. Even though I was intimidated (I was eight) my father thought it would be ok to ask for his autograph. He signed it with a large smile on his face and my father for years afterward told me how nice he was to him and my mom as they talked in the parking lot. I know that men my age were lucky to grow up in those times. We had men to look up to who were true heroes and explorers as opposed to today’s youth and their celebrity and MTV worship.

Posted by: Billmil at May 4, 2007 2:30 AM

It's a shame that he was neglected in the movie version of The Right Stuff. It was not until I bought the DVD to watch the movie that I noticed he was even a character. At least he was played by Lance Hendrikson.

Posted by: Chris Durnell at May 4, 2007 10:29 AM
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