Astronaut Wally Schirra Dead
He was one of the orginal seven "Right Stuff" astronuts. My little league team once got to meet him and the other six. He was 84 years old. May he rest in peace.
Trinity +++
Trinity +++
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A good man. He will be missed but his legend will live on. 0 -
"WE HAVE LIFT OFF!"
RIP0 -
He was the only Astronaut to fly with the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. A true hero. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by TrinityScrimshaw
He was one of the orginal seven "Right Stuff" astronuts. My little league team once got to meet him and the other six. He was 84 years old. May he rest in peace.
Trinity +++
Wow you met all seven... that is so cool....
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Yea, but I lived just ten miles from NASA at the time, and my uncle worked in the photo lab there. Not only did we get to meet all of them, but we got free autographed pictures of all of them. I later met the crew of Apollo #1 just a few weeks before they all died. I had autographed pictures of the Apollo #1 crew also but I lost them in a house fire back in 1971.
Trinity +++0 -
Remember how our entire nation was glued to its TV sets or radios or standing in front of the window of an appliance store watching these launches live? I remember our schoolrooms had TV in them and everything stopped for them.
We could do no wrong back then - only bask in the sunshine of what we set our minds to AND accomplished - without the constant criticism, analysis, nay-saying and gloom and doom that since has permeated every stich of our Country's fabric.
Yet one more true pioneer has left us.0 -
I have a thought that runs through my mind when I see something like the moon landing, the Mackinaw Bridge, things of that nature: truly a testiment to the best in and of mankind... 0 -
I guess that leaves only Scott Carpenter and John Glenn as the last of the Mercury Seven. I was born in 1955 so I grew up watching those guys, who I thought at the time must have been the bravest men on earth because back then when you would watch one of those rocket launches you honestly expected that something was going to go wrong and death was lurking close by. These days a Shuttle launch at the Cape is about as exciting as watching a 747 taking off at LAX. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Slow_Hand
Remember how our entire nation was glued to its TV sets or radios or standing in front of the window of an appliance store watching these launches live? I remember our schoolrooms had TV in them and everything stopped for them.
We could do no wrong back then - only bask in the sunshine of what we set our minds to AND accomplished - without the constant criticism, analysis, nay-saying and gloom and doom that since has permeated every stich of our Country's fabric.
Yet one more true pioneer has left us.
I think that was different far off world...I've yet to figure out how we landed on this one!!!!
Our Fathers touched the Moon... And us....We improved entertainment... Something I guess, but I'm not all that impressed!!!!0 -
I'll be in Gus Grissom's hometown this weekend. His widow is still alive and I think she still lives in Mitchell. Of all the original 7 I've always liked Gus the best. I guess because he's a fellow Hoosier. I was out in Witchita, KS a few years ago and saw the Liberty Bell 7 that sank after he splahed down. It was real cool how they found and recovered it. They had the contents of it spread out on tables and he had apparently taken dimes up as soveniers. They were all laid out. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by TrinityScrimshaw
Yea, but I lived just ten miles from NASA at the time, and my uncle worked in the photo lab there. Not only did we get to meet all of them, but we got free autographed pictures of all of them. I later met the crew of Apollo #1 just a few weeks before they all died. I had autographed pictures of the Apollo #1 crew also but I lost them in a house fire back in 1971.
Trinity +++
That was a heartbreaking loss for sure.... Not to mention a loss of great value!!!
At least you have the memory of meeting them as a group which IMO is priceless.0 -
TrinityScrimshaw
Just thought I woud share this you!
http://cgi.ebay.com/VIRGIL-GUS-GRISSOM-COLLECTION-CO-SIGNED_W0QQitemZ290029831122QQihZ019QQcategoryZ14430QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
I thought about trying to get something like this after seeing "Moonshot" on Discovery... Found out it was a wee bit out of my reach!!!!0 -
Wally Schirra and all the Mercury 7 were heroes.
I was in grade school when the Mercury launches were made. Back then it was very out of the ordinary to have a tv in the classroom.
But, the teacher would bring in a big black and white tv and we would reverently watch the brave astronauts go into space. It was very exciting.
Rest In Peace, star voyager.0 -
My dad met them all - some came home with him for dinner at one time or another.
Dad worked for NASA ... mostly at the GE Space Simulator in Valley Forge, PA and
they lived in Berwyn. There were so many NASA guys coming and going that I really
don't remember who I met and didn't meet. I remember Chris Craft was a heavy
drinker - walked into the (closed) front door from the living room and just stood there
until his wife walked over and led him out of the house to their car. I remember thinking
that if he was the head of the Space Program (Moon Program) we were doomed.
Boy, was I wrong!
[:D]0 -
There was a lot of drinking among the early astronauts, and girl chasing etc.
They were very far from PC.
Come to think of it, how did we make it to the moon, without a female pilot and a black astronaut to make the first step on the moon?0 -
One real American Hero. Those seven set the pace for the entire US space program. I've read the book "The Right Stuff." They had to put up with tremendous amounts of crap while their fellow military test pilots flew the hottest planes to ever come out of any designer's imagination. 0
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