Moon Child: Growing Up NASA

Not sure why but this memory sprang to mind today and wave of joy filled my heart. I will always hold dear the sound of my dad's belly laugh when his friend, Wally Schirra, stated from space that out the little round window of the space capsule, Gemini 7, he saw a mock UFO sighting, as in Santa Claus, and then played the first ever song from space, "Jingle Bells", on a harmonica he had smuggled on board. This of course immediately sent sales on Hohner Harmonicas 'skyrocketing'.

I'm still smiling hours later at the memory of dad's hearty chuckle and comment about his crazy friend. No one's laugh and voice compares to my dad's... but then maybe every little girl feels this way. For me Schirra was always the one astronaut who pushed the envelope just a little bit further than the rest, bucked up against the establishment and challenged all the rules. His 'break the rules' attitude is why beyond his good looks I had such a huge crush on him 'even into my late 20s. Where John Glenn was the super squeaky clean' astronaut who followed all the rules... Wally Schirra was the 'Bab Boy Space Rebel'. He was also even better looking and charismatic in person. This need to never give in and push the envelope beyond all proven limits is what made him great and inspirational and I always thought this quality along with the ability to hold his liquor and tell a good joke is what grafted a life long friendship between him and my dad. They remained great friends long after Mercury and NASA and it was wonderful seeing he'd not changed over the years as I sat across from him at my dad's retirement party in the 70s.

It was also Wally Schirra who defied the process of blowing the hatch of his capsule at sea and insisted instead to stay in the capsule until it was air lifted from the ocean water and deposited soundly on board the carrier's deck. This was to prove a point in defense of his friend and fellow astronaut, Gus Grissom. Gus' capsule had sunk after the hatch blew too soon. It was dad who made the nerve racking, final call after Gus was safely air lifted into the hovering heli to let the capsule, Freedom Bell 7, sink. It was rapidly filling with water and dangerously close to pulling the helicopter attempting to salvage it into the drink. Dad finally said, "Let it go" and then immediately ran to the Captain's bridge to survey the maps to see where it would land on the ocean floor. His heart sank right along with the casule as he and the captain realized it would be forever lost to the deepest area of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Happily decades later with the same technology that found the Titanic it was also found. Dad found peace with making the call to allow it to sink as he knew all needed flight information had been relayed to Cape Canaveral and Gus was safe and sound.

It was dad who carried the weight and responsibility of making the call for both the letting go of Grissom's capsule to sink to the bottom of the ocean and then allowing Schirra to stay in his capsule until it was air lifted and deposited on board the carrier. The trust, friendship and camaraderie between Schirra and dad and also his buddy, Gus Grissom, as well as the other astronauts was very, very special. All were a very special breed of Space Pioneers. 

Great Time magazine article in memoriam of Wally Schirra:
When Wally Schirra Said, "Go to Hell"