Wally Schirra, the only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, has died. He was 84 years old.

==============================================================
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/walter_schirra.html

Schirra's NASA career began with his selection as one of the original
seven Mercury astronauts in 1959 and spans the period from Americas
first tentative steps into space to the missions to the moon.

Schirra flew on the fifth Mercury flight in 1962, orbiting the Earth six
times. He commanded Gemini 6A in 1965, a flight with Tom Stafford that
had the historic distinction of being the first rendezvous of two
manned, maneuverable spacecraft. Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 flew in
formation for five hours, as close as one foot to one another.

Schirra also commanded Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo flight. During
that 11-day flight in Earth orbit in 1968, he and fellow crewmembers
Walt Cunningham and Donn Eisele tested the Apollo systems and proved it
was ready to take astronauts to the moon.

In what was a precursor of things to come, Apollo 7 transmitted the
first television feed live into commercial networks from space during
its 260-hour flight.

"With the passing of Wally Schirra, we at NASA note with sorrow the loss
of yet another of the pioneers of human spaceflight," NASA Administrator
Michael Griffin said. "As a Mercury astronaut, Wally was of a member of
the first group of astronauts to be selected, often referred to as the
Original Seven."
+ Administrator's Statment
<http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/griffin_schirra.html>
Snip
==============================================================

While we pay our respects to Wally, I would like to suggest that we view
some of the Apollo history.

You can do that with some of the videos archived for us by Google.
Some links I have provided here and below.
- LRK -

==============================================================
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=289444585088213883&q=%22Time+of+Apollo%22&hl=en

The Time of Apollo 1975
National Archives and Records Administration
28 min 29 sec - Jan 1, 1975
www.archives.gov

<http://video.google.com/videoredirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archives.gov%2Fgoogl
e%2F&amp;amp;chan=Uploaded&prog=The+Time+of+Apollo+1975&date=Wednesday%2C+January+1%2C+1
975+7%3A00%3A00+AM+GMT>
This film presents President John F. Kennedy stating in 1961 that "this
nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this *.*decade
is out, *of* landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to
Earth." This film presents a tribute to the accomplishment and era *of*
the task.; Project *Apollo* (U.S.); Image Associates.

The Time of Apollo 1975
<http://video.google.com/url?docid=289444585088213883&esrc=gvpl&ev=v&amp;amp;q=%22Time+of
+Apollo%22&vidurl=http://video.google.com/videoplay%3Fdocid%3D289444585088213883
%26q%3D%2522Time%2Bof%2BApollo%2522%26hl%3Den&usg=AL29H23qsabyipEVKtBkajRvVXdNXG
Y0eQ>

National Archives and Records Administration
28 min
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=289444585088213883
==============================================================

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/walter_schirra.html
May 3, 2007

David Mould
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1898

RELEASE: 07-100

VETERAN ASTRONAUT WALTER SCHIRRA DIES

LA JOLLA, Calif. - Pioneering astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra, the
only man who flew in all three of America's first human space
projects - Mercury, Gemini and Apollo - died Wednesday night. He was
84. Schirra's family reported he died of natural causes.

Schirra was one of America's original seven astronauts, selected in
1959, and was commander of the first crew to fly into space aboard an
Apollo capsule, Apollo 7, following the tragic launchpad fire that
claimed the lives of the crew of Apollo 1.

"With the passing of Wally Schirra, we at NASA note with sorrow the
loss of yet another of the pioneers of human spaceflight," NASA
Administrator Michael Griffin said. "As a Mercury astronaut, Wally
was a member of the first group of astronauts to be selected, often
referred to as the Original Seven."

Schirra's first space flight was piloting the fifth Mercury mission on
Oct. 3, 1962, orbiting Earth six times in 9 hours and 13 minutes.
During the flight he took hundreds of photos of Earth and space
phenomena. Schirra's capsule, Sigma 7, splashed down only 5 miles
from the recovery carrier.

As commander of Gemini 6-A, which launched on Dec. 15, 1965, Schirra
flew with astronaut Tom Stafford on a mission that included the first
rendezvous of two manned, maneuverable spacecraft. Gemini 6-A and
Gemini 7 flew in formation for five hours, as close as one foot to
one another.

During his 11-day Apollo 7 flight, which began Oct. 11, 1968, he and
fellow crewmembers Walt Cunningham and Donn Eisele tested the Apollo
systems and proved Apollo was ready to take astronauts to the moon.

"We shared a common dream to test the limits of man's imagination and
daring," Schirra wrote of America's early astronauts. "Those early
pioneering flights of Mercury, the performances of Gemini and the
trips to the moon established us once and for all as what I like to
call a spacefaring nation. Like England, Spain and Portugal crossing
the seas in search of their nations' greatness, so we reached for the
skies and ennobled our nation."

Snip
==============================================================
      NEWSALERT: Thursday, May 3, 2007 @ 1728 GMT
---------------------------------------------------------------------
          The latest news from Spaceflight Now


++++ "THE TIME OF APOLLO" now playing on Spaceflight Now Plus! ++++
This stirring 1970s documentary narrated by Burgess Meredith
   pays tribute to the grand accomplishments of Apollo.
       http://www.spaceflightnowplus.com/index.php

SCHIRRA HAS DIED
----------------
Astronaut Walter M. "Wally" Schirra Jr., one of the original Mercury Seven
astronauts and the only man to fly on all three of NASA's early space
projects -- Mercury, Gemini and Apollo -- has died at the age of 84.

http://spaceflightnow.com/

Snip
==============================================================
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4166049933953240830&q=%22Time+of+Apollo%22&hl=en
The Eagle Has Landed 1969
This film tells the story of the historic first landing of men on
the Moon in July, 1969. It depicts the principal highlight events of
the mission from launching through post-recovery activities of
Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
Through television, motion picture and still photography, the film
provides an "eye-witness" perspective of the Apollo 11 mission.

National Archives and Records Administration
28 min 23 sec - Feb 2, 1969
www.archives.gov

<http://video.google.com/videoredirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archives.gov%2Fgoogle
%2F&chan=Uploaded&prog=The+Eagle+Has+Landed+1969&date=Sunday%2C+February+2%2C+19
69+7%3A00%3A00+AM+GMT>

Browse: the eagle has landed
<http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=label%3A%22the%20eagle%20has%20landed%22>,
space, nasa, moon landing, moon, apollo 11.

Snip
==============================================================
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1481909519678263426&q=Apollo&hl=en
Debrief: Apollo 8 1969

National Archives and Records Administration
27 min 19 sec - Jan 1, 1969
www.archives.gov

<http://video.google.com/videoredirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archives.gov%2Fgoogl
e%2F&amp;amp;chan=Uploaded&prog=Debrief%3A+Apollo+8+1969&date=Wednesday%2C+January+1%2C+
1969+12%3A00%3A00+AM+GMT>

This film portrays the story of man's first journey in orbit around the
Moon with comments on the significance of the *Apollo* 8 flight
by several prominent Americans. The film features photography of the
lunar surface, the Earth as seen from the Moon, and the on-board
activities of Astronauts Frank Borman, James "Jim" Lovell, and William
"Bill" Anders.

ARC ID: 45016
Snip
==============================================================
http://www.archives.gov/google/
Google and The National Archives

Through our partnership with Google, a selection of historical video
clips is available for viewing and downloading on the Google web site
<http://www.archives.gov/global-pages/exit.html?link=http://video.google.com/nar
a.html>.


Learn more
<http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2006/nr06-64.html> about
how this partnership helps you access records of American history.

Want information about our videos located on Google? To learn what these
records are and why they are historically valuable, use ARC
<http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/google.html> (Archival Research
Catalog <http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/google.html>).

Are you a history buff? A student of history? Curious about historical
documents? Explore American history from our home page, Archives.gov
<http://www.archives.gov/>.

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================