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<html> <head> <title>Wally Schirra</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css">  </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap>This is a beta version of NNDB</td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </form></td> </tr> </table>        </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/941/000022875/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0>Wally Schirra<img src="wally-schirra-med.jpg" height=334 width=344 align=right hspace=10 vspace=10 alt="Wally Schirra">AKA Walter Marty Schirra, Jr.Born: <a href="/lists/589/000106271/" class=proflink>12-Mar</a>-<a href="/lists/922/000105607/" class=proflink>1923</a> Birthplace: <a href="/geo/127/000079887/" class=proflink>Hackensack, NJ</a> Died: <a href="/lists/010/000106689/" class=proflink>3-May</a>-<a href="/lists/485/000126107/" class=proflink>2007</a> Location of death: <a href="/geo/678/000069471/" class=proflink>Rancho Santa Fe, CA</a> Cause of death: Heart Failure Remains: Buried, <a href="/cemetery/655/000208031/" class="proflink">Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, CA</a> Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: <a href="/lists/178/000068971/" class=proflink>Astronaut</a>, BusinessNationality: United States Executive summary: Commander of Apollo 7Military service: US Navy (pilot 1948-59)Wally Schirra was the fifth American in space (Mercury 8) and the only astronaut to have flown Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. One of the original "Mercury 7" astronauts, he began training in the space program in 1959. On 3 October 1962, Schirra manned the diminutive Mercury 8, completing all mission objectives, including 6 orbits around the Earth covering 143,983 miles at 17,558 miles per hour. The mission lasted more than 9 hours. On 15 December 1965, Schirra made his second space flight, on Gemini 6a, a mission notable both for the steel nerves of Commander Schirra and pilot Thomas Stafford (riding out earlier failed launches) and the close vehicular synchronization achieved during their rendezvous with the Gemini 7 craft crewed by <a href="/people/262/000023193/">Jim Lovell</a> and <a href="/people/260/000023191/">Frank Borman</a>. Schirra made his final space flight on 11 October 1968 as commander of Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo flight following the fatal Apollo 1 test disaster. Another rendezvous mission, Apollo 7, saw Schirra and crew members Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham synching up their craft with the Saturn 1-B launch vehicle. The mission provided the first televised pictures from a U.S. spacecraft. In 1969 Schirra retired from the U.S. Navy and NASA to begin his extensive career in business. He held high-ranking positions at Regency Investors, ECOO Corp., SERNCO, Johns-Manville, Goodwin Company, and finally his own Schirra Enterprises. Although his name is not as recognizable as Apollo 11's <a href="/people/488/000022422/">Neil Armstrong</a>, Schirra's face is familiar due to his many public appearances speaking on the lessons of the space program. Schirra received numerous medals and awards and wrote or was involved in a number of books: Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon, Schirra's Space, We Seven, and Wildcats to Tomcats: The Tailhook Navy. Schirra was portrayed in the 1983 film The Right Stuff by actor <a href="/people/190/000024118/">Lance Henriksen</a>.Father: Walter Marty Schirra, Sr. (engineer) Mother: Florence Leach Sister: Georgia Wife: Josephine Cook Fraser (one son, one daughter) Son: Walter M. Schirra III (b. 23-Jun-1950) Daughter: Suzanne Karen (b. 29-Sep-1957)     High School: Dwight Morrow High School, Englewood, NJ (1940)     University: <a href="/edu/713/000166215/">Newark College of Engineering</a>     University: <a href="/edu/726/000068522/">BS, US Naval Academy (1942-45)</a>     <a href="/org/313/000124938/">American Astronautical Society</a> Fellow     <a href="/org/230/000164735/">Center for Economic and Social Justice</a> Board of Counselors     <a href="/org/124/000133722/">Center for Military Readiness</a> Board of Advisors     Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation Board of Advisors     <a href="/org/172/000133770/">Joe Foss Institute</a> National Advisory Board     Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute Co-Chair, Science Committee     <a href="/org/159/000117805/">Lindbergh Foundation</a> Board of Directors     <a href="/org/617/000161134/">Pacific Aviation Museum</a> Advisory Board     <a href="/org/357/000164862/">Richard I. Bong WWII Heritage Center</a> Honorary Board of Directors     San Diego Air & Space Museum Honorary Board of Directors     Water Works Conservancy, Inc Board of Advisors     <a href="/org/386/000051233/">Sigma Pi Fraternity</a>     <a href="/org/426/000041303/">Freemasonry</a> 33rd degree     <a href="/honors/033/000048886/">National Aviation Hall of Fame</a>     <a href="/event/450/000363358/">Visited Disneyland</a> (21-May-1998) <table> <tr> <td align=right valign=middle style="padding-right: 5px;">New! <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/" class="fotmlink" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; color: #dd0000;">NNDB MAPPER</a></td> <td valign=middle align=right style="border-left: 1px solid #bbb; padding-left: 5px;">Create a map starting with</td> <td valign=middle align=right><a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=22875"><img src="/man.gif" border=0 style="padding: 2px;"></a></td> <td align=left valign=middle> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=22875">Wally Schirra</a></td> </tr> </table> Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript. 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