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Walter Cunningham, a retired NASA astronaut and pilot of the first crewed flight in the space agency’s famed Apollo program, died early Tuesday morning at age 90, NASA said.
Cunningham was one of the first members of NASA’s human spaceflight program as a member of the third astronaut class, joining the space agency in 1963. He was selected to pilot Apollo 7, the NASA program’s first manned mission to land humans. for the first time on the moon.
“We want to express our immense pride in the life he led, and our deep gratitude for the man he was – a patriot, explorer, pilot, astronaut, husband, brother and father,” the Cunningham family wrote in a statement shared. by NASA. “The world has lost another true hero and we will miss him dearly.”
Launched in 1968 and lasting about 11 days, the Apollo 7 mission sent the crew on a journey to orbit that amounted to a test flight that could demonstrate the Apollo capsule’s ability to collide with a other spacecraft in orbit and paving the way for future research deeper into space. space. According to NASA, it was also notable for being featured in Americans’ first live TV broadcast from space.
Cunningham was the last surviving member of the Apollo 7 crew, which also included astronauts Wally Schirra and Donn Eisele.
Born in Creston, Iowa, Cunningham earned a bachelor’s degree in physics cum laude and a master’s degree in physics with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles. Cunningham was 36 years old when the Apollo 7 mission took off. During an interview with NASA’s Oral History Office in 1999, he reflected on his career path and motivations.
“I am one of those people who never really looked back. I don’t remember that until someone asked me about it after I became an astronaut,” Cunningham said. “All I remember is keeping my nose to the grindstone and wanting to do my best, as I didn’t realize at the time, but that was because I always wanted to be better prepared for the next step. I have always looked to the future. I don’t live in the past.”
Although he only ventured into space once, Cunningham became a leader in NASA’s Skylab program, the United States’ first space station to orbit the Earth from 1973 to 1979.
Before joining NASA, Cunningham enlisted in the US Navy and began training as a pilot in 1952, according to his official NASA biography, and served as a fighter pilot with the US Marine Corps on 54 missions in Korea.
“The only thing I can remember doing specifically to become an astronaut, because I looked at it was that I had become one of, if not the best, fighter pilot in the world,” Cunningham said in the interview with NASA’s Oral History Office.
Cunningham also completed a PhD in physics at UCLA without completing a dissertation, and later, in 1974, completed an advanced management program at the Harvard Graduate School of Business, according to NASA.
Prior to joining the Astronaut Corps, he worked as a physicist for the Rand Corporation, a non-profit military think tank.
After leaving the space agency, Cunningham wore many hats and served in a variety of roles in the private sector. According to his NASA biography, he held a number of executive positions in development companies, worked as a consultant to startups, became an entrepreneur and investor, and eventually became a radio talk show host.
In later years, Cunningham also became an outspoken critic of prevailing views on humanity’s impact on climate change.