posted 01-09-2023 02:07 PM               

It seems bizarre that Walt and Donn were highly respected and regarded as outstanding astronauts, but were never allowed to fly again. Equally bizarre is that they weren't awarded the medal for their flawlessly executed mission, when every other astronaut and some NASA management were presented with them.

posted 01-09-2023 02:12 PM               

Forty years after flying NASA's first crewed Apollo mission, the astronauts of Apollo 7 were honored on Friday (Oct. 17) with the space agency's highest award, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. The presentation at long-last recognized the Apollo 7 crew's contributions to the United States' first lunar landing program, granting Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham the same award that all of their fellow flown Apollo astronauts received almost four decades earlier.

"For exemplary performance in meeting all the Apollo 7 mission objectives and more on the first manned Apollo mission, paving the way for the first flight to the moon on Apollo 8 and the first manned lunar landing on Apollo 11," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin read from the framed certificate that accompanied each of the medals.