- Title: Walter "Wally" Schirra
- Author: NASA
- Date: c.1959
- Condition: Excellent
- Inches: 4 x 5 [Photograph]
- Centimeters: 10.16 x 12.70 [Photograph]
- Product ID: 308608
Original photograph of Walter "Wally" Schirra printed by NASA.
Walter "Wally" Schirra was an accomplished American naval aviator, test pilot, and astronaut born on March 12, 1923, in Hackensack, New Jersey. He distinguished himself as the only astronaut to fly in NASA's Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, starting as one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts selected in 1959. Schirra's first spaceflight was the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission (Sigma 7) in 1962, which made him the fifth American and ninth human in space, orbiting Earth six times.
He was also the command pilot of Gemini 6A in 1965, where he and Tom Stafford achieved the first space rendezvous, station-keeping within 1 foot of Gemini 7. In 1968, Schirra commanded Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo mission, successfully testing the Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit and restoring confidence after the Apollo 1 tragedy. Schirra was a highly skilled pilot, having flown 90 combat missions during the Korean War and made 267 carrier landings in his Naval career. He retired from NASA and the Navy in 1969, continued his career in broadcasting and consulting, and passed away on May 3, 2007, leaving a legacy as a pioneering figure in the history of human space exploration.