Schirra, Walter (“Wally”) Marty, Jr. (1935-2007)
The only American astronaut to fly in all three Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. Schirra earned a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy in 1945 and later flew combat missions during the Korean War. He was involved in the development of the Sidewinder missile at the Navy Ordnance Station at China Lake, California. Flying an F3D night fighter, Schirra was the first to fire a Sidewinder at a drone target – with almost disastrous results. The missile went out of control and started to loop around to chase the plane; Schirra’s response was to make an even faster loop to stay on its tail. He flew the Mercury capsule Sigma 7 to become the third American in space, commanded Gemini 7 which made the first space rendezvous, and commanded Apollo 7.
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• ASTRONAUTS AND COSMONAUTS
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