>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Schirra
Walter Marty Schirra Jr. (/ʃɜːrˈɑː/, March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007) was an American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' first effort to put human beings into space. On October 3, 1962, he flew the six-orbit, nine-hour, Mercury-Atlas 8 mission, in a spacecraft he nicknamed Sigma 7. At the time of his mission in Sigma 7, Schirra became the fifth American and ninth human to travel into space. In the two-man Gemini program, he achieved the first space rendezvous, station-keeping his Gemini 6A spacecraft within 1 foot (30 cm) of the sister Gemini 7 spacecraft in December 1965. In October 1968, he commanded Apollo 7, an 11-day low Earth orbit shakedown test of the three-man Apollo Command/Service Module and the first crewed launch for the Apollo program.
He was the first astronaut to go into space three times, and the only astronaut to have flown in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.[1] In total, Schirra logged 295 hours and 15 minutes in space. After Apollo 7, he retired as a captain from the U.S. Navy as well as from NASA, subsequently becoming a consultant to CBS News in the network's coverage of following Apollo flights.Schirra joined Walter Cronkiteas co-anchor for all seven of NASA's Moon landing missions.
Schirra was a33rd Degree Masonand part of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as a fellow of the American Astronautical Society.[18] Schirra received Honorary Doctorates of Science from three colleges and universities: Lafayette College (for Astronautical Engineering), the University of Southern California, and his alma mater the Newark College of Engineering (for Astronautics).[18][38] Schirra was inducted into multiple halls of fame: the International Air & Space Hall of Fame (1970),[39] the International Space Hall of Fame (1981),[40][41] the National Aviation Hall of Fame (1986),[42] the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame (1990),[43][44] and the New Jersey Hall of Fame.[45] The USNS Wally Schirra (T-AKE-8), a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship named for Schirra, was christened and launched March 8, 2009.[46] A street and a park are named after Schirra in Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania, and Oradell, New Jersey.[47][48] Walter M. Schirra Elementary School in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, is named after Schirra.[49]