We lost a pioneer today - Wally Shirra age 84

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

A real American Hero. Unfortunately Rosie O'Donnel will
probably get more press coverage.

"ManhattanMan" wrote

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

Amen.

Those guys in the early stages of the program really did have the right
stuff. The definition of "spam in a can" really applies, as those were
really "cans," and mighty thin cans, at that.

Every time I see how those early spacecraft were constructed, it amazes me
that any sane person would put themselves into one, and blast off into
space.
--
Jim in NC

The dinner seating at the Naval Test Pilot School reunions at Pax River NAS
in Maryland used to be a random seating affair where you just picked out a
table and sat down with whoever ended up with you.
I had occasion to attend several of these reunions as the guest of TPS back
in the early seventies.
One year, I believe it was 72, my wife and I ended up seated with several of
the Mercury gang at the TPS reunion dinner . Among our group were Alan
Shepard and Wally Shirra.
My wife and I ended up seated between the two of them.
For several pleasant hours we sat and ate our dinner with these two
hilarious clowns. My wife kept kicking me under the table reminding me not
to succumb to the temptation to talk shop. I complied, as strangely enough,
none of us really seemed inclined to want to get into talking business.
Instead, we heard just about every golf joke existing on the planet, and
Shirra treated everybody to a first class tutorial on how to perform the
world's most memorable practical jokes on just about everybody.
The result was a wonderful day spent with the Mercury gang. We met as
strangers and left as friends.
In my opinion, these people were some of the brightest and finest, and truly
the best of the best of their day.
You are right. They will be missed.
Dudley Henriques

"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

GodSpeed Wally..
BT

"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

I was working on the space program in San Diego where a nearby facility was
static testing the Atlas (nee Assless) rockets. Running joke was that you
could tell the kids of the Atlas test crew because they all counted, "5, 4,
3, 2, 1, damn".

THe folks who rode those roman candles into space had balls of solid brass.

We'll all have a hell of a time swapping stories when we follow them into
the great beyond.

Jim

(Wadda ya mean I'm going "down there"? Don't good engineerin' count for
NUTHIN??"



"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"ManhattanMan" wrote

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

Amen.

Those guys in the early stages of the program really did have the right
stuff. The definition of "spam in a can" really applies, as those were
really "cans," and mighty thin cans, at that.

Every time I see how those early spacecraft were constructed, it amazes me
that any sane person would put themselves into one, and blast off into
space.

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
************************************************** *******************

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

kontiki wrote:
A real American Hero. Unfortunately Rosie O'Donnel will
probably get more press coverage.

Rosie O'Donnel died?