American fighter pilot, astronaut, physicist, entrepreneur, venture investor, and author of the 1977 book The All-American Boys, Ronnie Walter Cunningham (March 16, 1932 – January 3, 2023) was born in the United States. He piloted the lunar module on the Apollo 7 mission in 1968, becoming the third civilian astronaut in NASA’s history (after Neil Armstrong and Elliot See).
Cunningham was chosen by NASA to be a member of the third set of astronauts in October 1963. He sat in the Lunar Module Pilot seat for the eleven-day flight of Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo mission, on October 11, 1968.
The Lunar Module was not carried on board, and Cunningham was in charge of all systems other than launch and navigation. The service module engine’s successful test-fire as well as measurements of the precision of the spacecraft’s systems kept the crew occupied. Cunningham left NASA in 1971 after leading the Flight Crew Directorate’s Skylab division after the flight.
More than 3,400 of Cunningham’s more than 4,500 hours were spent flying jets and 263 other types of aircraft.
Cunningham worked as a businessman and investor after completing his studies in business management at Harvard Business School. For his work on the Apollo 7 mission, he received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Cunningham joined Back to Space as an astronaut consultant in 2018 with the intention of motivating the next generation to travel to Mars.
The scientific consensus on climate change was denied by Cunningham. He wrote a discussion paper titled “Global Warming: Facts vs Faith” which was published in 2010. The assertions of global warming were refuted, according to Cunningham, in an editorial that appeared in the Houston Chronicle on August 15, 2010.
He and several former astronauts and NASA staff members wrote a critical letter to the organization in 2012, calling attention to what they saw as “unproven allegations that man-made carbon dioxide was a key influence in global warming.”
Cunningham was a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the American Geophysical Union, the Explorers Club, Sigma Pi Sigma, and Sigma Xi, the Association of Space Explorers, the CO2 Coalition[failed verification], the Houston American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, the Aviation Subcommittee, the Houston Chamber of Commerce, the Earth Awareness Foundation, and Na
Walter Cunningham cause of death
On January 3, 2023, Cunningham passed away in Houston at the age of 90 as a result of complications following a fall.
Walter Cunningham wife and children
Cunningham had two children, Brian and Kimberley, with the former Lo Ella Irby of Norwalk, California. In the end, Lo Ella and Walter got divorced.
Walter Cunningham net worth
Cunningham was worth 6 million USD at the time of his death.
Walter Cunningham funeral
The arrangements for his funeral have not been shared with the public at the moment.
