Archive for Mercury 7

Wally Schirra

Posted in Cremated with tags , , on November 21, 2022 by Cade

March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007

Walter “Wally” Schirra was a naval test pilot and one of the Mercury 7 astronauts. Schirra served aboard the USS Alaska during World War II and became a pilot for the Navy in 1948. He flew 90 missions during the Korean war and began test piloting aircraft in the years that followed. In 1959, Schirra was selected for Project Mercury and the first American manned-spaceflight program. He flew the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission onboard the Sigma 7 space capsule. MA-8 orbited the earth six times and allowed Schirra to manually pilot the capsule successfully.
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Gus Grissom

Posted in Arlington National Cemetery with tags , , on August 23, 2021 by Cade

grissom1April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967

Virgil Ivan Grissom grew up in Indiana building model airplanes and dreaming of becoming a pilot. When he was in high school, World War II broke out, so Virgil – whose friends called him “Gus” – seized his chance to become a pilot and joined the Army Air Forces. Gus spent the war basically behind a desk…on the ground.

Six years later, the U.S. entered the Korean War and Gus re-enlisted in the newly rebranded Air Force; and this time, he earned his pilot wings. Grissom flew 100 missions in the conflict and made quite a name for himself as an airman. After the war, he became a test pilot and, in 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration called Gus with a special offer.

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John Glenn

Posted in Arlington National Cemetery with tags , , on June 28, 2021 by Cade

July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016

As American heroes go, they don’t come much more American or heroic than John Glenn. As a Marine fighter pilot during World War II and the Korean War, Glenn was already well-decorated with military honors, but he became a household name in 1959 when he was named a member of the Mercury 7 – the United States’ first group of astronauts. In 1962, after backing up Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom on the first two manned Mercury missions (respectively), Glenn flew the Friendship 7 capsule into space on the project’s third mission and become the first man to orbit the Earth. Continue reading →

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Alan Shepard Jr.

Posted in Cremated with tags , , , on September 14, 2020 by Cade

November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998

Alan Shepard was an American Naval test pilot and astronaut. He was a member of the vaunted Mercury 7 – the first group of astronauts in the U.S. His most notable achievement was as the “first American in space.” His often-delayed May 1961 mission was somewhat eclipsed by the fact that the Soviet Union successfully sent one of their cosmonauts into space just three weeks earlier. Still, Shepard’s accomplishment was met with ticker tape parades and hero status. Continue reading →

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