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Wally Schirra

Wally SCHIRRA
PROFILE
Full Name:	Walter Marty 'Wally' SCHIRRA Jr.
Rank:	Captain, US Navy. (Deceased).
Born:	12 March 1923, in Hackensack, New Jersey, USA (American).
Died:	3 May 2007 in La Jolla, California, USA, at the age of 84.
Education:	1940: Graduated from Dwight W. Morrow High School, Englewood, New Jersey. 1945: BSc degree from the US Naval Academy, Maryland.
Career Highlights:	1940-42: Studied aeronautical engineering at Newark College of Engineering. 1942-45: Student, USN Academy. Aug 1945-Apr 1946: Assigned to the armoured battle cruiser USS Alaska (CB-1) in the Pacific Ocean. Apr-Dec 1946: Assigned to the staff of the 7th Fleet in the Pacific, in China. Dec 1946-Jun 1948: USN Pilot training; (Jun 1948) designated Naval Aviator. Jun 1948-Jan 1951: Pilot, Fighter Squadron VF-71, Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Jan-Dec 1951: Exchange pilot with the USAF, serving with the 136th Bomber Wing and the 154th Fighter Bomber Wing based at Taegu, Korea; completed 90 combat missions. Feb 1952-Feb 1954: Air-to-Air Missile Officer, Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, California, engaged in the development of the Sidewinder missile. Feb-Oct 1954: Project pilot F7U3 Cutlass and FJ3 Fury, Fleet Aircraft Service Squadron Twelve, Miramar Naval Air Station, San Diego; also served aboard the carrier USS Hancock. Oct 1954-Mar 1956: Training pilot to Composite Squadron Three (VC-3), Moffett Field, California. Mar 1956-Sep 1957: Operations Officer. Fighter Squadron VF-124 aboard the carrier USS Lexington in the Pacific Ocean. Sep-Dec 1957: Attended Air Safety School, Naval ROTC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Dec 1957-Apr 1959: Test pilot training, Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland; remained at Patuxent as a test pilot and was assigned to suitability development work on the F-4H jet fighter.

NASA ASTRONAUT ASSIGNMENTS
1959:	(9 Apr) Selected as one of the 'Original Seven' Mercury astronauts for NASA's Group 1; Mercury training; (Jul) Astronaut Office (Code CB) technical responsibility in life support issues.
1960:	Mercury training.
1961:	Mercury training.
1962:	Mercury training; (Feb) Capcom, California for MA-6 (Glenn); (15 Mar) named BUp Pilot MA-7; (May) BUp Pilot MA-7 (Carpenter); (27 Jun) named as Pilot MA-8; (3 Oct) flew as Pilot MA-8 Sigma 7 (9 hrs 13 min); Mercury debriefing.
1963:
1964:	(13 Apr) named BUp Command Pilot Gemini 3; Gemini mission training; (8 Jul) assigned to Gemini Branch Office; Gemini mission training; (Nov) informed he would fly as Command Pilot Gemini 6.
1965:	Gemini mission training; (Mar) BUp Command Pilot Gemini 3; (5 Apr) named Command Pilot Gemini 6; Gemini mission training; (15-16 Dec) flew as Command Pilot Gemini 6 (25 hrs 51 min; with Stafford); performed first crewed space rendezvous, with Gemini 7.
1966:	(Jan) Informed he would be Commander, Apollo 2 (Block I); preliminary Apollo mission training; (20 Sep) named as Commander Apollo 2 (Block I); Apollo mission training; (17 Nov) Apollo 2 (Block I) cancelled, crew reassigned; (22 Dec) BUp Commander Apollo 1; Apollo mission training (Block I).
1967:	Apollo mission training (Block I); (27 Jan) Apollo 1 crew killed in pad fire, all assigned crews stood down pending investigation; Apollo generic training; (9 May) named as Commander, first crewed Apollo; Apollo mission training; (20 Nov) confirmed as Commander, Apollo 7; Apollo mission training.
1968:	Apollo mission training; (11-22 Oct) flew as Commander Apollo 7 (10 days 20 hrs 9 min); first crewed Apollo mission (Earth orbit); first person to fly in space three times; only stronaut to fly in all three pioneering American crewed space programmes; CB technical assignments.
1969:	CB technical assignments; (1 Jul) resigned from NASA and retired from the US Navy with the rank of Captain.

POST-ASTRONAUT EXPERIENCE
1969-70:	President, Regency Investors Incorporated, Denver, Colorado.
1970-73:	Chairman and CEO, Environmental Control Company, Englewood, Colorado.
1973-74:	Chairman, SERNCO Incorporated.
1975-77:	Director at John-Mansville Corporation, Denver, Colorado.
1977-79:	Vice President for Development, Goodwin Companies Inc, Littleton, Colorado.
1979-80:	Independent Consultant, Schirra Enterprises.
1980-2007:	Independent consultant and external director for several companies.
3 May 2007:	Died from a heart attack during treatment for abdominal cancer, in La Jolla, California, at the age of 84.

Wally SCHIRRA Space Flight Missions
Mission	Vehicle	Position	Dates DD/MM/YYYY	Duration DD:HH:MM:SS	Orbits	EVAs
Mercury 8	Atlas	Pilot	03/10/1962	00:09:13:11	6	0
Gemini 6	Titan II	Command Pilot	15/12/1965-16/12/1965	01:01:51:54	16	0
Apollo 7	Saturn 1B	Commander	11/10/1968-22/10/1968	10:20:09:03	163	0

Missions Flown:		3	Total Flight Time:	12:07:14:08	185	0

Space Explorer Achievements
Only astronaut to fly in all three pioneering crewed American space flight programmes (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo) First person to fly in space three times First US extended crewed space flight (over 8 hours, Mercury 8, 1962) First rendezvous between two crewed spacecraft (Gemini 6 with Gemini 7, 1965)

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This profile is copyright Astro Info Service Limited, 2015, 2026

All images are courtesy of NASA, unless otherwise stated.

group photo of the original seven NASA astronauts informally dressed standing in a hangar in front of a spacecraft

The Original Seven Group 1 NASA astronauts pose for an informal group photo shortly after selection on 9 April 1959. (L to r) Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra (partly hidden behind Cooper), Al Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Deke Slayton and Scott Carpenter.

dressed in his silver spacesuit and carrying his ventilator, Schirra walks from the hangar at Cape Canaveral heading heading for the launch pad for his Mercury 8 mission

A fully suited Schirra walks from Hangar S at Cape Canaveral on his way to the launch pad for his Mercury-8 Sigma 7 mission in October 1962.

Schirra is helped out of the maerucyr spacecraft aboard the recovery ship at the end of his mission.

At the end of the MA-8 mission, Schirra is helped out of his spacecraft by naval personnel aboard the recovery ship USS Kearsarge. Schirra had elected to remain with the spacecraft during recovery.

photo of the Gemini 6 spacecraft in Earth orbit, taken by the crew of Gemini 7

The historic first rendezvous of two crewed spacecraft in Earth orbit occurred with Gemini 6 and 7 in 1965. This image shows the Gemini 6 spacecraft (crewed by Schirra and Tom Stafford) in Earth orbit 160 miles (257 km) above the planet. It was taken by the Gemini 7 crew (Frank Borman and Jim Lovell).

gemini 6 astronauts Schirra and Stafford stand at a lectern to address the crew aboard the recovery ship at the end of their mission

Gemini 6 astronauts Schirra and Stafford address the crew aboard the USS Wasp after the successful recovery of the spacecraft and crew. The celebration cake in front of them includes a representation of the Gemini spacecraft

Apollo 7 crew Cunningham, Eisele and Schirra are dressed in their space suits for water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico

The crew of Apollo 7 is suited up for water egress training aboard the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever in the Gulf of Mexico in August 1968. (L to r) Walt Cunningham (LMP), Donn Eisele (CMP), Wally Schirra (CDR).

lying on his back, mission commander Schirra looks out of the rendezvous window during the Apollo 7 mission

With nine days of beard growth, Schirra looks out of the rendezvous window in front of his CDR station aboard Apollo 7. This mission saw the first live broadcast from a U.S. crewed spacecraft, on 14 October 1968.