MetaChat - Damn. Wally Schirra has died.

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

03 May 2007

Damn. Wally Schirra has died. →[More:]I have always been fascinated with the Space Program, so it always kind of hits me when another of the early pioneers passes on. Some people may only have a dim recollection of him as an Actifed pitchman.

I may have to watch The Right Stuff tonight.

post by: King of Prontopia at: 14:03 | 4 comments

Wow. It seems like a long time since the space programn was cool and the astronauts household names. RIP Wally.

posted by arse_hat 03 May | 15:05

.

I may have to watch Apollo 13 this weekend.

posted by chewatadistance 03 May | 15:06

I think jonmc was lost in space, so i'm reposting his mispost.

"RIP, great one.

(astronauts passing away kind of freaks me out a bit. The day Neil Armstrong passes on is going to be very strange)
posted by jonmc 03 May | 14:06"

posted by Schyler523 03 May | 16:39

"Schirra cut the jolly fun-loving figure so well that people sometimes failed to notice how formidable he could be. But his emphasis, after all, was on maintaining an even strain... Every bit as much as Shepard, Wally had the instincts of an Academy man, a leader of men, the commander, the captain of the ship... He was cool; he had 'the uncritical willingness to face danger,' but he wasn't afraid to show his feelings when strategy seemed to dictate it...

"He practically out-yeagered Yeager."
Tom Wolfe The Right Stuff

posted by GeckoDundee 03 May | 18:11

← Who says you need functional legs to shred? || Is there a good response to people who think that making jokes at the expense of →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN