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Former Apollo astronaut Walt Cunningham dead at the age of 90
Posted on 1/3/23 at 4:26 pm
Posted on 1/3/23 at 4:26 pm
Also a former U.S. Marine Corps pilot. He along with Don Eisele and Wally Schirra became the first astronauts to pilot an Apollo spacecraft in outer space. The flight of Apollo 7 would be Cunningham's first and last in space.
NASA Twitter
NASA Twitter
This post was edited on 1/3/23 at 4:27 pm
9
Posted on 1/3/23 at 4:27 pm to RollTide1987
Poor Richie...
Posted on 1/3/23 at 4:31 pm to RollTide1987
Semper Fi. Fair winds and following seas.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 4:31 pm to RollTide1987
Respect for anyone willing to ride on the top of this.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 4:42 pm to RollTide1987
After the earlier “successes” of the other Apollos, he had to have balls of steel to take a ride in one. RIP.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 4:53 pm to RollTide1987
Was he vaxxed?
Posted on 1/3/23 at 5:00 pm to RollTide1987
I heard a launch announcer once describe takeoff as "being strapped on a bomb headed to nowhere" and ever since then I've had no desire to go to space. Not that I ever would have.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 5:15 pm to RollTide1987
All 3 of the Apollo 7 crew were banned from future flights because of perceived insubordination, that’s why Cunningham flew just that 1 flight.
Wally Schirra wanted to do more shake down of the Apollo 7 systems, but NASA insisted on taking time for the first live American TV broadcast from space.
According to Jim Lovell, "Apollo 7 was a very successful flight—they did an excellent job—but it was a very contentious flight. They all teed off the ground people quite considerably, and I think that kind of put a stop on future flights [for them]."
Wally Schirra wanted to do more shake down of the Apollo 7 systems, but NASA insisted on taking time for the first live American TV broadcast from space.
According to Jim Lovell, "Apollo 7 was a very successful flight—they did an excellent job—but it was a very contentious flight. They all teed off the ground people quite considerably, and I think that kind of put a stop on future flights [for them]."
Posted on 1/3/23 at 9:31 pm to RollTide1987
On a personal note, losing Walt hurts. I spoke to Walt last week. He said he was feeling okay, but to me he was sounding weak, but we had a good conversation about the Artemis program, about his wife, Dot, (who he adored) and his utter disdain for Democrat politics especially concerning global climate change. His birthday and my youngest son's birthday are the same. Every year for the last five years, Walt would call up and wish my boy a happy birthday, and we'd wish Walt one, too. He had multiple long conversations with my son, and I credit Walt with encouraging my son's interest in physics and engineering.
Sharing a friendship with a real American hero was one of life's privileges. I looked up to Walt, a lot. It took a lot of guts to be among the first 3 men to strap into an Apollo launch after 3 of their friends died in a fire on Apollo 1. Had they failed in their mission, the whole space program would have been set back a decade or more. We affectionately just referred to him as "Colonel".
I wish I could tell you more. He was funny, brave, kind and affable. The world lost a good soul.
Sharing a friendship with a real American hero was one of life's privileges. I looked up to Walt, a lot. It took a lot of guts to be among the first 3 men to strap into an Apollo launch after 3 of their friends died in a fire on Apollo 1. Had they failed in their mission, the whole space program would have been set back a decade or more. We affectionately just referred to him as "Colonel".
I wish I could tell you more. He was funny, brave, kind and affable. The world lost a good soul.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 9:42 pm to RollTide1987
Def the vaxjab. 90 year olds weren’t dying like this before
This post was edited on 1/3/23 at 9:42 pm
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