Rest In Peace Wally Schirra

Astronaunt Wally Schirra died today at 84. May he rest in peace.

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


BAR
John

That leave only John Glenn and Scotty Carpenter as the only two remaining original Mercury astronauts still alive. I grew up watching these guys on TV. All are my original boyhood heros.

The only one to go on all 3 capsules, too.

Originally posted by DaveCombs
The only one to go on all 3 capsules, too.

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Spacecraft you mean...

Originally posted by dcastle
Spacecraft you mean...

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From NASA's story about Wally:

The Gemini 6A countdown reached zero on Dec. 12, 1965, and the rocket engines ignited – then shut down. The two astronauts had to wait almost half an hour atop the fueled rocket before getting out of the capsule. The problem turned out to be minor, the failure of an electrical connection.

RIP

Originally posted by DaveCombs
From NASA's story about Wally:

The Gemini 6A countdown reached zero on Dec. 12, 1965, and the rocket engines ignited – then shut down. The two astronauts had to wait almost half an hour atop the fueled rocket before getting out of the capsule. The problem turned out to be minor, the failure of an electrical connection.

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If I recall correctly, the Gemini capsule was equipped with ejection seats. To have that happen, and not "punch out" (which would have aborted that entire mission) showed a lot of guts....

And not to detract from Mr. Schirra's death, but when I was reading more about him and Gemini, I ran into this resume of John Young, the first shuttle pilot:

"I thought returning safely to Earth sounded like a good idea," quips Young, who has stood on the Moon, driven 16 miles in a lunar rover and spent three nights on the lunar surface. He is the only person to go into space as part of the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs and was the first to fly into space six times -- seven times counting his lunar liftoff.

What a life!

Originally posted by tquigg
If I recall correctly, the Gemini capsule was equipped with ejection seats. To have that happen, and not "punch out" (which would have aborted that entire mission) showed a lot of guts....

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Yes, they were ejection seats: check out these drawings.

I'm surprised NASA let the word capsule get through one of their documents...the astros hated that...

The Gemini 6A incident was a combination of Wally's courage and quick thinking as well as his concerns about the ejection seats on the Gemini spacecraft. He and some of the others felt that pulling the D ring to eject from the Gemini was a pretty big gamble in and of itself and that it would easily lead to death or severe injury. In particular, they weren't completely confident that the hatch could get out of the way fast enough to prevent hitting it on the way out...ouch...

All indications were that the vehicle had lifted off slightly and was about to topple over and explode. The engines had ignited and then shut down, the instrumentation showed a liftoff. Wally trusted the seat of his pants better, though, and that said he wasn't moving. That turned out to be the right call...

Sad news indeed. Another great space pioneer has left the building. I need to get the he co-authored "The Real Space Cowboys".

one of my favorite photos was snapped by Wally - looking out the window at SIV-B, with Cape Kennedy and the launch site below

https://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/AS07-03-1545.jpg

apparently he practiced quite a lot to get that shot!

Originally posted by cls
one of my favorite photos was snapped by Wally - looking out the window at SIV-B, with Cape Kennedy and the launch site below

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Yes, that is an awesome picture. I never knew exactly which astronaut had taken it.

Walter Schirra was a great man and he will be missed.
Fred

Originally posted by cls
one of my favorite photos was snapped by Wally - looking out the window at SIV-B, with Cape Kennedy and the launch site below

https://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/AS07-03-1545.jpg

apparently he practiced quite a lot to get that shot!

Click to expand...

That picture sure looks like the "angry alligator" which was Gemini 9 - Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan

https://www.space.com/imageoftheday/alligator_iod_day3.html

I was fortunate to meet Wally Schirra a couple of years ago when he and Ed Buckbee were promoting "The Real Space Cowboys." He came across as warm and approachable putting me at ease while conversing about the space program, answering the same questions he'd undoubtably heard a thousand times before.


RIP Captain Schirra

A true American Hero, Wally Schirra.

RIP

Wally is my brother, a fellow Son Of Pythagoras.

(yes, I said "is", not "was")

Enjoy the ride!