The last surviving astronaut from the first successful crewed space mission in NASA’s Apollo program Walter Cunningham passed away at the age of 90 in Houston. NASA confirmed Cunningham’s died in a hospital “from complications of a fall, after a full and complete life.
Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham
- Cunningham crewed the mission with Navy Capt. Walter M. Schirra and Donn F. Eisele, an Air Force major.
- Cunningham was the lunar module pilot on the space flight, which was launched from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Florida, on October 11 and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean south of Bermuda.
- Cunningham was “above all” an explorer whose work also laid the foundation for the agency’s new Artemis moon program. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said
- The Apollo 7 astronauts also won a special Emmy award for their daily television reports from orbit.
Who is astronaut Walter Cunningham
- Cunningham was born in Creston, Iowa.
- He served as Marine Corps.
- He completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from the University of California at Los Angeles.
- He also obtained doctoral studies and worked as a scientist for the Rand Corporation before joining NASA.