Walter Cunningham's Death: Last Surviving Apollo 7 Astronaut Dies at 90

(Photo : Photo by Sam Greenwood/AAF/Getty Images)
The last surviving astronaut of the Apollo 7 mission, Walter Cunningham, died at 90 after laying the foundation for human space exploration.

Retired NASA astronaut Walter Cunningham, the last surviving Apollo 7 astronaut, died at age 90 early Tuesday morning, the space agency announced.

Cunningham was one of the earliest members of NASA's human spaceflight program and was the pilot of the first crewed flight in the famed Apollo program. He and his team went on to land humans on the moon for the first time in history.

Walter Cunningham's Death

The late astronaut's family released a statement that was shared by NASA where they were expressing their immense pride in the life that Cunningham lived and their gratitude for the man that he was. They considered him a patriot, an explorer, pilot, astronaut, husband, brother, and father.

He was the last surviving astronaut of the Apollo 7 crew, which included astronauts Wally Schirra and Donn Eisele. Cunningham was born in Creston, Iowa, and was a recipient of an honors bachelor's degree in physics and a masters with distinction in physics from the University of California at Los Angeles, as per CNN.

The late astronaut was 36 years old when NASA launched the Apollo 7 mission and during an interview in 1999, he reflected on his career path and motivations. He said that he was one of the people who never really looked back.

While Cunningham ventured into outer space only once, he went on to become a leader in the space agency's Skylab program, which was the United States' first space station that orbited Earth from 1973 to 1979.

Before he joined NASA, the late astronaut enlisted in the United States Navy and began training as a pilot in 1952, based on his official NASA biography. He also served as a fighter pilot with the US Marine Corps on 54 missions in Korea.

According to NASA, Cunningham also worked as a scientist for the Rand Corporation for three years, working on classified defense studies and problems related to our planet's magnetosphere. He was able to accumulate more than 4,500 hours of flying time in 40 different aircraft, which included more than 3,400 in jet aircraft.

Foundation of Human Space Exploration

The director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, Vanessa Wyche, said that they were beholden to Cunningham's service to the United States and his dedication to the advancement of human space exploration. She added that the late astronaut's accomplished legacy will continue to serve as an inspiration to all of them.

Before being a part of the Apollo 7 crew, Cunningham was assigned to the prime crew for Apollo 2, until it was canceled, and the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 1. He was designated the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 7 mission which was designed for 11 days and launched on Oct. 11, 1968.

On Tuesday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that Cunningham was "above all" an explorer whose work also laid the foundation for the space agency's new Artemis moon program. The astronauts who were part of the Apollo 7 mission won a special Emmy award for their daily television reports from orbit, KOLD reported.