2007年VOA标准英语-Pioneer US Astronaut Schirra Dies at 84

By David McAlary
Washington
03 May 2007

Astronaut Walter M. Schirra Jr. is shown posed for a studio portrait in his space suit in this June 1962 file photo

One of the first U.S. astronauts and only the fifth American in space, Walter Schirra, has died at age 84. The U.S. space agency NASA says he had been suffering from cancer, but has provided no further details. VOA's David McAlary looks back at this space pioneer's life.

Schirra is best remembered as one of the original seven astronauts who helped take America's fledgling space program from its first tentative steps all the way to the moon.

Among his colleagues in that group were Alan Shepherd, the first American in space, and John Glenn, the first American and second human to orbit Earth after Russia's Yuri Gagarin.

Schirra, known by the nickname Wally, could be called the reluctant astronaut. He was a career Navy pilot who had flown missions in the Korean War, where he shot down two enemy Mig jet fighters, and who tested aircraft before joining NASA in 1959. He recalled having to be ordered to Washington for recruitment by the space agency, which was seeking aggressive test pilots for its experimental space missions. He initially¹ turned them down, but said a colleague eventually convinced him to change his mind.

"The same fellow who sent me to test pilot school, Bob Elder, said, 'Wally, if you want to go higher, farther, and faster, this is the only way to do it.' So I went along with it," he said.

Schirra, with his six peers, soon became the focus of the public and press, which followed every step of the first U.S. efforts in space. He went on to pilot the fifth mission in the country's initial series of Mercury flights, orbiting Earth six times in 1962.

Three years later in 1965, Schirra commanded one of two Gemini spacecraft that became the first rocketships to rendezvous² and circle each other. The mission proved that spacecraft could be maneuvered³, what NASA called an encouraging technical development in the race to the moon.

Schirra also commanded the Apollo 7 mission in 1968, the first piloted flight in the Apollo series that landed men on the moon the next year.

As a result, he is the only U.S. astronaut to have flown in NASA's first three space projects, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.

Schirra later expressed the view that humans were meant to explore space. "It's an urge, a pioneering urge, and we humans like that. And I think that's what made us want to go to the moon as individuals. I'm not sure whether President Kennedy wanted that or whether it was a political thing just to have a cold war with the Soviets," he said.

After 10 years as an astronaut, Walter Schirra retired⁴ from NASA in 1969 to become a commentator⁵ on space missions for a U.S. television network and eventually serve on the board of directors for several corporations.

1 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

2 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

3 maneuvered   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• I maneuvered my way among the tables to the back corner of the place. 我在那些桌子间穿行，来到那地方后面的角落。 来自辞典例句
• The admiral maneuvered his ships in the battle plan. 舰队司令按作战计划进行舰队演习。 来自辞典例句

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。