R.I.P. Walter Schirra, 1923-2007

One of the original seven American astronauts died yesterday: Walter Schirra. Perhaps most notably, he was the only one of the seven to fly in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. He was 84 years old. I remember reading about him and the other Mercury astronauts when I was in high school, in an old book (now out-of-print, I think) called We Seven, made up of essays by the astronauts themselves.

"I left Earth three times. I found no place else to go. Please take care of Spaceship Earth."

(Edit: nope, that book IS still in print. Have to find a copy.)