Apollo 7

Hey everyone,

On October 11, 1968, Apollo 7 launched into space with the crew of Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham. The Apollo crews would have the new positions of Commander, Command Module Pilot (CMP), and the Lunar Module Pilot (LMP). Schirra was the Commander while Eisele (CMP) and Cunningham (LMP) would have lesser positions. This would be Schirra's last spaceflight, and he would be the only man to fly Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. However, no manned flight had occurred since the tragedy of Apollo 1 placing some pressure on this flight for success. Schirra was an excellent candidate for this mission because he was meticulous when it came to safety. Before the flight, he asked that an abort be instated in case of a significant wind on the launchpad. If they were to launch on a very windy day and had to abort, the wind could blow them back ashore causing the astronauts to be harmed or even killed. Schirra's demand was instated, but the launch went smoothly. However, in space, the crew became irritable after they developed motion sickness due to the larger space provided for the astronauts. Schirra soon developed a bad head cold, and he began to refuse requests. Likewise, the other crew became irritable. This "talking back" led to Eisele and Cunningham being omitted from later crews. Still, the mission was successful and was instrumental in the impromptu mission alteration for Apollo 8.