Apollo 7 Astronaut Recounts Splashdown at 50th Anniversary Gala

Apollo 7 Astronaut Recounts Splashdown at 50th Anniversary Gala

Apollo 7 Astronaut Recounts Splashdown at 50th Anniversary Gala







		DALLAS - Walt Cunningham hoped the parachutes would have opened.

		A member of the first three-man space crew of the United States, Cunningham, along with Wally Schirra and Donn Eisele, returned to Earth 50 years ago, on Monday (October 22), after having spent the previous 11 days driving the first pilot. Test of the Apollo spacecraft in orbit. All that stood between the Apollo 7 crew and the end of their mission was seeing their parachute and its main parachutes unfold.

		"We fly to cloudy conditions," Cunningham said, remembering his reentry into the atmosphere in a Gala celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 7 mission. held by the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas on Saturday (October 20) "We went down to about 22,000 feet and could not see anything."

The[[The first trip with Apollo crew to space occurred 50 years ago]

		Judging by their speed of descent, Cunningham and his two crewmates thought that their slides should have worked. But his situation remained unclear.

		"Our three main conduits had to open at approximately 11,000 feet and we still could not see anything. [the chutes deploy] a little, but we could not see how many had opened. So again we revised our watches and the rate of descent, but we did not get out of the clouds to see our slides up to about 500 feet, "Cunningham said.

		As Cunningham is still to testify (Eisele died in 1987, Schirra died in 2007), Apollo 7 It landed safely, albeit a little off-center.

		"It was not totally upside down, it was on the side," Cunningham said, describing the "Stable 2" orientation of his spacecraft before inflating the balloons to straighten the capsule.

		Raised from the Atlantic Ocean in a helicopter that would land them on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Essex, Cunningham, Schirra and Eisele had one more surprise.





						


A helicopter of the US Navy UU Retrieve the crew of Apollo 7 from Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham after their fall on October 22, 1968. The 11-day flight tested Apollo's command and service modules in Earth orbit, paving the way for Moon .

            						    Credit: NASA 


		"One of the boys in the helicopter took a bottle of alcohol and offered us a drink," Cunningham revealed with laughter and applause.

		Guests at the Flight Border Museum, including eight of Cunningham's fellow astronauts, toasted their success on Saturday.

		"Walt, congratulations on the 50 anniversary of the Apollo 7 mission. We've been talking about this for a few years and it's finally here and it's fabulous, "said Cheryl Sutterfield-Jones, president and CEO of the museum.

		Sitting next to the screen of his command module, Cunningham delighted the audience with Flight details Apollo 7., motivated by the master of ceremonies of the event, the radio announcer Mark Davis.

		"Fifty years ago this week, 50 years ago right now, Walt Cunningham, Wally Schirra and Donn Eisele, the first crew of three American men, were paving the way to the first landing to the moon that would occur less than a year later. Years ago, on Monday, Apollo 7 was an absolute success, "said Davis.

		"It's really an honor to be here today on the 50th anniversary of one of the most important days of my life," Cunningham said. "Apollo 7 was part of one of the most extraordinary achievements in the history of our nation."

		The first manned mission of NASA's lunar landing program, Apollo 7, was launched in a Saturn IB rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 11, 1968, 19 months after a fire that claimed the lives of the crew of Apollo 1 on the same launch pad. Cunningham, Schirra and Eisele had been the backup team for the Apollo 1 astronauts.

		"We thought, rightly or wrongly, that we could overcome all the obstacles and that our goal was worth it," Cunningham said.

		"We were not there for the pleasure of doing it, nor for the notoriety and certainly not for the money," he added. "During Apollo 7, I earned $ 660."





						


Walt Cunningham, along with his wife Dot, pose in front of the Apollo 7 command module at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas on Saturday, October 20, 2018. The couple was the guest of honor at a 50th anniversary gala of the Apollo 7. mission. 

            						    Credit: collectSPACE.com 


		The mission confirmed that the Apollo command and service modules were capable and ready to withstand the dispatch of post-moon crews. Among the guests who joined the gala on Saturday were four of the 24 astronauts who made the trip: Bill Anders of Apollo 8, Thomas Stafford of Apollo 10, Charlie Duke of Apollo 16 and Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17.

		The evening event served to raise funds for the Borders of Flight Space Exploration Initiative, which includes the space flight gallery planned by the museum that will open in phases starting in 2019. The new exhibition will once again show a recovered Apollo Moon rock and they have a new interactive kiosk where guests, and especially children, can learn more about Cunningham.

		"Walt Cunningham is a mandatory learning topic for children in school," Sutterfield-Jones explained. "In Texas, we have something called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and, as part of those standards, it says 'learn something about Walt Cunningham.'"

		During the gala, the renowned portrait artist Maceij Maga presented his latest work, a representation in coal of the crew of Apollo 7 with its command module, which will be displayed near the capsule in the new space gallery.

		The evening also included a tribute from Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who with his wife served as honorary president of the celebration.

		"Apollo 7 was a crucial flight," said Patrick. "If Apollo 7 had not gone as well as it did, then we would not have made the schedule to land on the moon when President Kennedy was at the end of the decade." This flight, that capsule, Walt Cunningham, Wally and Donn raided the way for us. "



	see more photos of the 50th anniversary gala of Apollo 7 of Frontiers of Flight Museum in collectSPACE.



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