[Apollo 7]

A MODEL OF THE FIRST CREWED APOLLO SPACECRAFT — WALT CUNNINGHAM'S ONLY SPACEFLIGHT.

The Apollo 7 mission was an integral step in the space race and accomplished several important precedents. Apollo 7 was the first 3-person American spaceflight, crewed by Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham. It also included the first live TV downlink from an American spacecraft, the first use of the now iconic Saturn rocket to launch a crew into space, and the first time a crew ate hot food in space. This mission was essential in testing the spacecraft systems that would put future Apollo crews in lunar orbit and, finally, on the Moon.

Walt Cunningham was the designated lunar module pilot for the mission, testing the necessary maneuvers for docking and rendezvous using the second stage of their Saturn IB rocket. After the success of the Apollo 7 mission, Cunningham went on to be the chief of the Skylab branch of the Flight Crew Directorate at NASA Johnson before retiring from NASA in 1971.