Walter Schirra, Jr., NASA Astronaut, 1923-2007

Wally Schirra, a hero to me as a young boy, rocketed into space three times, the only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini AND Apollo space programs, has died at the age of 84. He also co-anchored space flight coverage with Walter Cronkite, on CBS, from 1969-75.

He noticed environmental damage to our atmosphere every time he went up. The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted him:
‘The result of it was I had a phrase that I should give you:
“I left Earth three times.
I found nowhere else to go.
Please take care of spaceship Earth.”‘

He also said, “Its interesting because we couldn’t see the borders of the countries. I’m always amazed at how geopoliticians made those borders – rulers meaning dictators, kings, or politicians – and apparently we, the humans, have gone along with it.”

God rest ye well, Wally, we will never forget you.

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