Wally

Walter Marty Schirra Jr. was born on March 12th, 1923. Schirra received his wings in 1948 and joined Fighter Squadron 71 (VF-71) at Quonset Point, Rhode Island where he flew the F8F Bearcat, F-80 Shooting Star, and F9F Panther fighter aircraft.

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Schirra was then deployed to the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway at the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. In an effort to gain combat experience, Wally applied for an exchange program with the U.S. Air Force and was selected to fly on the F-84 Thunderjet.

Initially deployed with the 154th Fighter-Bomber Squadron to Itazuke Air Force Base in Japan, from where he flew missions into South Korea. In his eight-month deployment, Schirra flew 90 combat missions and downed two MiG-15s.

After completing his tour in Korea, Schirra became a test pilot at Naval Ordnance Test Station China Lake, California (NOTS). At China Lake, testing multiple aircraft types, and assorted weaponry, including becoming the first pilot to fly with, and fire the Sidewinder missile.

Schirra was then assigned to Miramar Naval Air Station to test the newest Navy jet fighters, the F7U Cutlass and the F3H Demon. During his deployment to Asia aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, Schirra was accepted to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1958.

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It was there where Schirra first met future fellow astronauts Jim Lovell and Pete Conrad. Their paths would certainly cross again in the near future. Schirra became a test pilot at Naval Air Station Patuxent River where he learned to fly the F4H Phantom to determine if its capabilities in becoming a carrier-based aircraft.

At 7:15 am on October 3, 1962, Schirra lifted off aboard his Mercury flight, named Sigma 7. After a minor trajectory deviation early in flight, Sigma 7 achieved orbit.

After six orbits, Schirra manually aligned his spacecraft over Africa and performed a retrofire. Sigma 7 landed 5 miles from the recovery ship, the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge.

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Once Sigma 7 was on deck, Schirra, in a most intentional action, hit the knobbed plunger inside his capsule, instantly detonating the explosive charge, which within microseconds had sheared off the 70 bolts and propelled the hatch 25 ft away in one second. If the pin was left in place, a force of 40 lbf would have been required to detonate the bolts.

As expected, Schirra received a cut and a sizeable bruise through his glove due to the kickback of the egress plunger.

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Wally did this to prove with the presence of his hand injuries that without any doubt, GUS GRISSOM HAD NOT INTENTIONALLY BLOWN THE HATCH ON LIBERTY BELL.

Wally Schirra was the first astronaut to go into space three times, and the only astronaut to have flown in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. In total, Schirra logged 295 hours and 15 minutes in space. After Apollo 7, he retired as a captain from the U.S. Navy as well as from NASA.

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Walter Marty Schirra Jr. flew West on May 3rd, 2007, at 84 years of age. He was cremated and his ashes were committed to the sea on February 11, 2008, in a burial at sea ceremony held aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

"When a man looks across a street, sees a pretty girl, and waves at her, that's not a rendezvous, that's a passing acquaintance. When he walks across the street and nibbles on her ear, that's a rendezvous!"

Wally Schirra

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