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Wally Schirra Facts & Worksheets

Wally Schirra was an accomplished military aviator and NASA astronaut.

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Wally Schirra was an accomplished military aviator and NASA astronaut. He fought in WWII and the Korean War before being selected by NASA to participate in multiple space missions.

See the fact file below for more information on the Wally Schirra or alternatively, you can download our 28-page Wally Schirra worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BACKGROUND

  • Wally Schirra was the third person from the United States to be launched into the orbit of the Earth.
  • Wally Schirra participated in three space missions: Project Mercury, Gemini 6, and Apollo 7.

EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION

  • Wally Schirra was born on March 12, 1923 in Hackensack, New Jersey.
  • Wally’s father, Walter senior, flew for the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War 1.
  • Wally’s mother was named Florence and she was known for her dangerous talent of “wing walking”.
  • Wing walking is when a person walks on the wings of a plane while the plane is in flight.
  • After graduating from high school (1940), Wally went to Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJIT).
  • Wally completed a degree in Social Science from Newark in 1945.
  • On June 6, 1945, Wally became a Junior Officer for the United States Navy. He fought in the final months of World War II aboard a large ship called the “USS Alaska”.
  • After WWII, Wally began training to be a Naval Aviator at the Naval Air Station.

MILITARY SERVICE

  • Wally completed his naval aviator training in 1948. In 1950, he fought in the Korean War.
  • After the Korean War, Wally returned to the United States.
  • In 1958, Wally was accepted into the US Naval Test Pilot School. Thisl is a highly competitive school which has helped train many future astronauts.

PROJECT MERCURY & MERCURY-ATLAS 8

  • In 1959, Wally was selected for NASA’s Project Mercury.
  • Project Mercury was NASA’s first mission to send human beings into orbit.
  • On October 3, 1962, Wally Schirra launched into orbit aboard a spacecraft named “Sigma 7”. His mission was called “Mercury-Atlas 8”.
  • There were two objectives for mission Mercury-Atlas 8.
  • The first objective was to evaluate the technical performance of the spaceship over the course of six Earth orbits.
  • The second objective was to determine the effect of zero gravity on a human.
  • During his mission, Wally orbited the Earth six times. The entire mission lasted nine hours.

PROJECT GEMINI & GEMINI6A

  • In 1965, Wally Schirra became the commander pilot for a NASA mission called Project Gemini.
  • Project Gemini was NASA’s second program which sent humans into space. The objective was to better understand safe space travel techniques which could then be used in a future mission to send humans to the Moon.
  • Wally Schirra’s mission in Project Gemini was called Gemini6A. He completed this mission alongside an astronaut named Tom Stafford.
  • The objective of Gemini6 was to dock with an unnamed spaceship called the “Agena Target Vehicle” (ATV), also known as the “Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle” (GATV).
  • Gemini6A was also scheduled to conduct 29 orbits around the Earth.
  • On December 12, 1965 the first attempt to launch Gemini6A was made. Unfortunately, the engines shut down during launch.
  • Schirra realized that the engines had shut off and made the quick decision not to activate the ejector seats inside the spaceship. If they had been activated, Wally and his partner Tom Stafford would have been launched 800ft in the air and suffered serious physical injuries.
  • By deciding not to activate the ejector seats, Wally also ensured that the mission would not be further delayed.
  • On December 15, 1965, Gemini6A launched for the second time. This launch was successful.
  • While in orbit, Gemini6A conducted the first ever meeting between two spacecrafts in space. Gemini6 was selected to rendezvous with Gemini 7, which had been launched into orbit eight days prior.
  • By deciding not to activate the ejector seats, Wally also ensured that the mission would not be further delayed.
  • On December 15, 1965, Gemini6A launched for the second time. This launch was successful.
  • While in orbit, Gemini6A conducted the first ever meeting between two spacecrafts in space. Gemini6 was selected to rendezvous with Gemini 7, which had been launched into orbit eight days prior.

PROJECT APOLLO & APOLLO 7

  • In 1966, Wally Schirra was selected for NASA’s Project Apollo. This was NASA’s third human spaceflight program.
  • The objective was to send humans to the Moon and then return them safely to Earth.
  • Wally was selected to participate in a mission called “Apollo 7”.
  • The objective was to test different systems inside the spaceship to confirm if it would be habitable for humans when sending astronauts to the moon.
  • On October 11, 1968, Apollo7 launched into orbit.
  • On October 14, 1965, Wally and his two crewmates held a national TV broadcast from space. This was the first time live television featured a stream directly from astronauts in space.
  • Apollo 7 returned to Earth on October 22, 1968. The mission lasted ten days.

LEGACY

  • Wally retired from NASA on July 1, 1969. Following his retirement from NASA, he began working as a news correspondent for CBS News (1969 -1975).
  • Wally promoted a cold medication called Actifed on television. In the commercials, he talked openly about how the medication was used by him and other astronauts while they were in space.
  • Following his brief television career, Wally had a successful career in business. He served as the President of a company called “Regency Investors Incorporated”.
  • On February 23, 1946, Wally married a woman named Josephine Cook. The couple had two children named Walter M. III (1950) and Suzanne (1957).
  • Wally passed away on May 3, 2007. Following his death, his ashes were scattered in the sea.

Wally Schirra Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Wally Schirra across 28 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Wally Schirra worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Wally Schirra who was an accomplished military aviator and NASA astronaut. He fought in WWII and the Korean War before being selected by NASA to participate in multiple space missions.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Wally Schirra Facts
  • NASA Mission
  • See, Think, Wonder
  • Space Launch Sequence
  • Wally’s Wild Timeline
  • Command Centre Crossword
  • Word Scramble
  • Space Flight Wordsearch
  • Space Supply List
  • Sequence of Events
  • Fact or Myth?

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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