I never met Walt Cunningham but I have watched many interviews with him that are posted to the internet and he clearly was a very intelligent and thoughtful man. I read his book _The All American Boys_ in the early 1980s and to this day still feel it is one of the best (if not _the_ best) of all the astronaut books. I may not have agreed with some of his political positions but he had earned my respect. My condolences to his family. ps Although they may have had colds the true reason for Schirra's irritability on Apollo 7 was _nicotine withdrawal._ He was a 2-3 pack a day smoker and they were in space for 11 days.
A very enjoyable interview, one of the most thoughtful and insightful I have heard. Walt was a very intelligent man who made some very enormous contributions to the US manned space program. It is a pity how Schirra's antics and Chris Craft's ham handedness kept Walt from flying in space again.
Agreed. Walt was a straight shooter. I initially read his "All American Boys" back in 1980 or so, and at the time (and since then), have thought his was the only astro autobiography to come close to Mike Collins' "Carrying the Fire", which, IMHO, is the gold standard of astro autobiographies. Godspeed Walt!
I read somewhere that there was a disagreement between the ground and Apollo 7 over them wearing their space helmets during re entry. They didn't want to, because of the colds. Your eustachian tubes in your ears get clogged, and there was a very real danger of the crew rupturing their ear drums if they couldn't forcefully clear their ears by holding the nose and blowing.
I feel bad for Walt and Don for being lumped in with Wally on the Apollo 7 debacle. As much as Kraft did for expanding mission control, he always seemed to me to come off as kind of an ass. I get that you have to be tough in that business. However, he seemed to hold grudges, and only after all of these guys got older, did he actually come out and speak his mind on his feelings of people. Kind of chicken shit, if you ask me.
@@tedpeterson1156 I have read Walter’s book and he did not get on with Slayton. Slayton had his favourites ( Lovell, Borman, Mcdivitt, Stafford, Cernan, Conrad, Young) I don’t think he would have been offered another flight even if 7 went off without a hitch.
@@dukeford8893 Cunningham was more technically and scientifically minded than Schirra and McDivitt liked missions that had complex engineering challenges.
RIP Colonel Cunningham
Your contributions are enormous.
Clearly Walt Cunningham gave more to NASA than NASA gave to him. Thank you for that and RIP
I was 7 years old when my first grade teacher, Ms. Patton, let us watch this launch in school, in Houston, Texas!
This was FANTASTIC ! What an increadable individual he was. Very good interviewer too. Thank you. God Speed Walt !
I never met Walt Cunningham but I have watched many interviews with him that are posted to the internet and he clearly was a very intelligent and thoughtful man. I read his book _The All American Boys_ in the early 1980s and to this day still feel it is one of the best (if not _the_ best) of all the astronaut books. I may not have agreed with some of his political positions but he had earned my respect. My condolences to his family.
ps
Although they may have had colds the true reason for Schirra's irritability on Apollo 7 was _nicotine withdrawal._ He was a 2-3 pack a day smoker and they were in space for 11 days.
I agree, he seems very intelligent and thoughtful.
Walt is a very smart man.............. I knew that when I got his book when it came out.
A very enjoyable interview, one of the most thoughtful and insightful I have heard. Walt was a very intelligent man who made some very enormous contributions to the US manned space program.
It is a pity how Schirra's antics and Chris Craft's ham handedness kept Walt from flying in space again.
Agreed. Walt was a straight shooter. I initially read his "All American Boys" back in 1980 or so, and at the time (and since then), have thought his was the only astro autobiography to come close to Mike Collins' "Carrying the Fire", which, IMHO, is the gold standard of astro autobiographies. Godspeed Walt!
@@scootertooter6874 I have yet to read either of those books. They are now at the top of my to do list.!
@@olentangy74 I'd read Carrying the Fire first...then All American Boys.
Rest In Peace Walt!!
Interesting interview!
Very well said !
"God’s rest Apollo Astronaut Walter Cunningham..."
I read somewhere that there was a disagreement between the ground and Apollo 7 over them wearing their space helmets during re entry. They didn't want to, because of the colds. Your eustachian tubes in your ears get clogged, and there was a very real danger of the crew rupturing their ear drums if they couldn't forcefully clear their ears by holding the nose and blowing.
It's true but that was just more bad beef with MOCR on top of the huge pile already created.
@@DrTWG I've heard about some of it. Care to elaborate, or post links? I'm a total geek about this history.
I feel bad for Walt and Don for being lumped in with Wally on the Apollo 7 debacle. As much as Kraft did for expanding mission control, he always seemed to me to come off as kind of an ass. I get that you have to be tough in that business. However, he seemed to hold grudges, and only after all of these guys got older, did he actually come out and speak his mind on his feelings of people. Kind of chicken shit, if you ask me.
Grissom had a good technical background
Unfortunately, if you got on the wrong side of Chris Kraft, it seems you could be 'black balled' even in space....
yes
Of course, they knew this before they crossed him.
You can get canned from any job if you’re replaceable and you piss off your boss.
I wish there was one of these of Gus Grissom
He was killed in the 1960s
1:00:09 Walt discusses the conflict between the Apollo 7 crew and mission control.
Donn Eisle's book 'Apollo Pilot' mentions this, also.
You can learn a lot from a person like this
Kraft stated after the flight that these men would not fly in space again. This was Shirrahs fault
He (I think) decided he wasn’t going to wear the med harness any longer (that measures heart rate and such)
Told MC to get bent, more or less.
@@tedpeterson1156 I have read Walter’s book and he did not get on with Slayton. Slayton had his favourites ( Lovell, Borman, Mcdivitt, Stafford, Cernan, Conrad, Young) I don’t think he would have been offered another flight even if 7 went off without a hitch.
Apollo applications: where astronaut carrers went to die
Walter Cunningham was a bad fit for a Schirra crew...how much better for his astronaut career had he been teamed with Jim McDivitt?
I don't know why he would have been a "bad fit", and flying with McDivitt was no guarantee to future success.
@@dukeford8893 Cunningham was more technically and scientifically minded than Schirra and McDivitt liked missions that had complex engineering challenges.
Not sure about the whole Deke was trying to get Apollo 2. He never mentioned that in his book.
I always loved spaceflight........... Mars is too hard............too costly, and currently, there is no reason to do it.
Mars…….Been there…done that!
Did NASA pay for these histories? If so, it's the best money they've spent since Apollo.
25:20
41:12
40:40
Chis Kraft was always A.O.K. at NASA!
In his book, Kraft said he did answer Walt about the blackball.......... 'You got it straight from the horse's mouth !!!'
@@dks13827 I'm interested in this book, what should I order?
@@Rmack137 Flight: My Life in Mission Control: Kraft, Christopher
I always felt like Wally ruined this guys career as an astronaut