We lost a pioneer today - Wally Shirra age 84

RIP Wally Shirra, and thanks for everything.....

I received this today from Bill Fox, the fellow who ran Area 51 (and
who donated all the amazing SR-71 stuff in our "Blackbird Suite":
************************************************** *******************
From: Michael Finneran, Head, PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
]
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 2:10 PM
Subject: Message from Administrator on Wally Schirra's Passing

The Passing of Wally Schirra

Today is a sad day for NASA and our country, as we mourn the passing
yesterday in California of astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra. With
Wally's passing, we at NASA note with sorrow the loss of yet another
of the pioneers of human space flight. As a Mercury astronaut, Wally
was a member of the first group of astronauts to be selected, often
referred to as the "Original Seven." Wally is remembered in the close
circle of the space community as the pilot who flew a "textbook
flight" on his Mercury mission in October 1962.

But Wally's space flight career went well beyond Mercury; on his next
flight, in December 1965, he commanded the Gemini 6 mission with Tom
Stafford as pilot. Wally and Tom carried out the first rendezvous in
space, flying for hours in formation with Frank Borman and Jim Lovell
in their Gemini 7 spacecraft, and completing one of the key steps
along the path to the moon. The fact that this mission flew at all
will always be known as a testimony to Wally's cool precision under
stress, for Gemini 6 experienced the first on-pad engine shutdown in
human space flight history. Worse, the crew had a liftoff indication
triggered by a faulty umbilical connection; according to mission
rules, they should have ejected from the spacecraft. But Wally did
not feel what he thought he should have felt had the booster really
begun to take flight, and so the crew stayed aboard, saving the
mission and quite possibly the program.

Wally's last flight was Apollo 7, the first to be conducted in the
aftermath of the disastrous Apollo 1 fire. This flight was another
enormous success, accomplishing "101 percent of its objectives,"
according to the post-flight debrief. It also made Wally the first
man to command three different spacecraft, and the only one to fly
Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

It was impossible to know Wally, even to meet him, without realizing
at once that he was a man who relished the lighter side of life, the
puns and jokes and pranks that can enliven a gathering. But this was
a distraction from the true nature of the man. His record as a
pioneering space pilot shows the real stuff of which he was made. We
who have inherited today's space program will always be in his debt.


Michael Griffin
Administrator
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Godspeed, Mr. Schirra. You and your cohorts were my childhood
heroes. I wish my kids had people like you to look up to and admire.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 3 May 2007 20:54:22 -0700, Jay Honeck wrote:

I wish my kids had people like you to look up to and admire.

Very true. In fact, _I_ wish I had them.

Tobias

You're lucky to have been there. Indeed, we had many heroes back then.

I always liked his name, also. Just kind of sounds like a hero's name...

To the stars, Wally Shirra, RIP.

Dan


"ManhattanMan" wrote in message ...
I was priviledged to have been aboard the USS Kearsarge in Oct, 1962 to witness the first astronaut to re-enter earths
atmosphere in full view of the recovery force. I took his picture climbing out of the 'Sigma 7' Mercury capsule, from
the catwalk overlooking #3 elevator, and it, along with the two page spread from Look Magazine, has been on my office
wall for the last 45 years.
http://www.members.cox.net/drpics/shirra_oct62.jpg
Six months later we picked up Gordon Cooper, and it was a carbon copy of Shirra's re-entry.

About four years later I was working for Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC) in Kansas City, and discovered the station
managers wife went to high school with Wally, back in the Seattle area I believe. It's a small world..

RIP Wally Shirra, and thanks for everything.....

Don

On 2007-05-03 10:36:03 -0700, "ManhattanMan" said:

I was priviledged to have been aboard the USS Kearsarge in Oct, 1962 to
witness the first astronaut to re-enter earths atmosphere in full view of
the recovery force. I took his picture climbing out of the 'Sigma 7'
Mercury capsule, from the catwalk overlooking #3 elevator, and it, along
with the two page spread from Look Magazine, has been on my office wall for
the last 45 years.
http://www.members.cox.net/drpics/shirra_oct62.jpg
Six months later we picked up Gordon Cooper, and it was a carbon copy of
Shirra's re-entry.

About four years later I was working for Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC) in
Kansas City, and discovered the station managers wife went to high school
with Wally, back in the Seattle area I believe. It's a small world..

RIP Wally Shirra, and thanks for everything.....

Don

Sad thing is, all of the Apollo program astronauts will probably be
dead before we ever return to the moon.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

In article 200705061913088930-christophercampbell@hotmailcom,
C J Campbell wrote:

Sad thing is, all of the Apollo program astronauts will probably be
dead before we ever return to the moon.

It would be really sad if we never go back at all.

--
Bob Noel
(goodness, please trim replies!!!)

Ummm yup, Bob - though the Prez has ordered us to do so, and NASA is
running about waving fistfuls of CASH and yodeling like Tarzan, the
big aerospace companies are drooling like rabid dogs, and space fans
are heartened Warp 8 Mr. Sulu!

The crucial issue is, will this survive the changing of the guard in
2008 when the Democrats have the White House and a majority in at
least one house of Congress and probably two... Their genetic
programming to do whatever it takes to pay people not to work, and
punish those who do, will cause any other big spending program such as
the Moon to be DOA... my lifetime of watching scumbag politicians
create entitlement programs tells me the Moon/Mars will die
whimpering

The other issue is that Wally was dead set against going back to the
moon see the video of his remarks on NASA TV because it sucks
resources from the real need to go to MARS... I feel he is dead right
on this issue... What NASA needs to spend money on over the next
decade is in placing several hundred tons of machinery and supplies
both on the surface and in orbit of Mars, to await the arrival of the
people who will spend 3 to 5 years mining out caverns, setting up
solar panel farms, building electrolysis stills to separate oxygen
from sub surface ice, and pressurizing the whole complex as a
permanent base...
For this project the ISS is your forward work camp... You send up
multiple loads to the ISS... There the loads are assembled into trains
and boosted off to orbit Mars...

Sadly, what we should do versus what we will do so some scumbag
politicians can get re-elected, is completely at odds...

denny


It would be really sad if we never go back at all.

Bob Noel
(goodness, please trim replies!!!)

For this project the ISS is your forward work camp... You send up
multiple loads to the ISS... There the loads are assembled into trains
and boosted off to orbit Mars...

I agree with the overall tenor of your post, Denny. However, I think
you may be mistaken when it comes to the role of the space station.

I may be crazy, but I think I remember reading that the ISS, although
originally intended to serve in the role you describe for it, was
actually put into an orbit that makes it less than suitable for
boosting anything onto mars or the moon. Unless I'm sadly mistaken,
this was one of the things left on the cutting room floor, back when
the budget debates over construction of the ISS were under way.

Perhaps there's a way to change that now? Can the whole ISS be
boosted into a higher orbit?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I can think of no mechanical reason why the ISS should not be boosted
to a higher orbit... Whether the political will exists is the issue...
Another issue is that the Shuttle will not carry big loads to a high
orbit... So, cranking out a series of larger APOLLO capsules to haul
people back and forth is needed...
Of course, instead of simply putting out a commercial bid for tin cans
with a heat shield and parachutes that will do the job, NASA will
predesign these tin cans so they have to built from unobtanium, with
excruciatingly complex control systems, yadda, yadda, ad nauseum...
At which point they will begin resembling a Shuttle without wings and
we will spend 10 years building 3, at a zillion percent over run in
cost... sigh

Why they don't come to their senses and give me total authority to run
the project, boggles the mind! I can do it... On time and within
budget...

denny

More like flailing about like a double-jointed hooker on dollar night.

Jim


"Denny" wrote in message
ps.com...
Ummm ... NASA is
running about waving fistfuls of CASH and yodeling like Tarzan