Walter Cunningham

Cunningham was born in Creston, Iowa, on March 16, 1932. According to Cunningham, he intended to serve as a lieutenant commander in the Naval Air Corps, apparently inspired by a movie around 1940, named by Cunningham as Hell Divers. He graduated from Venice High School in Los Angeles, California, in 1950. The science building is named Cunningham Hall in his honor. Thereafter, Cunningham continued his education at nearby Santa Monica College, intending to become an architect From 1956 to 1975, he continued to serve in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, ultimately retiring at the rank of colonel. Upon completing his service obligation, Cunningham resumed his studies at Santa Monica College before transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1958. Cunningham received his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in 1960, and his Master of Arts degree with distinction in 1961, both in physics, from UCLA. He completed all requirements save for the dissertation for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics at UCLA during his time at RAND Corporation, where he spent three years prior to his NASA selection. == NASA career ==

In October 1963, Cunningham was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA. On October 11, 1968, he occupied the Lunar Module Pilot seat for the eleven-day flight of Apollo 7, the first launch of a crewed Apollo mission. Following the Apollo 7 mission, Cunningham went on to head up the Skylab branch of the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center from 1968 to 1971. In this role, Cunningham coordinated the operational development, system integration, and habitability of Skylab hardware. Cunningham stated that he was informally offered the position of mission commander for Skylab 2, but after the position was officially given to Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad, with Cunningham offered the position of backup commander, Cunningham left NASA in 1971. Cunningham accumulated more than 4,500 hours of flying time, including more than 3,400 in jet aircraft and 263 hours in space. == Later life ==

In 1974, Cunningham attended Harvard Business School's six-week Advanced Management Program and later worked as a businessman and investor in a number of private ventures. He was also a major contributor to and foreword writer for the 2007 space history book In the Shadow of the Moon. In 2018, Cunningham joined the Back to Space organization as an Astronaut Consultant with the goal of inspiring the next generation to go to Mars. In 2008, NASA awarded Cunningham the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his Apollo 7 mission.{{cite web == Personal life and death ==

Cunningham married Lo Ella Irby of Norwalk, California, and had two children, Brian and Kimberley. Walter and Lo Ella eventually divorced. His second wife was retired Houston businesswoman Dorothy "Dot" Cunningham. Cunningham died in Houston on January 3, 2023, at age 90, from complications resulting from a fall. == Global warming views ==

Cunningham rejected the scientific consensus on climate change. His biography page at the Coalition said "Since 2000, he has been writing and speaking out on the hoax that humans are controlling the temperature of the earth." In an editorial published in the Houston Chronicle on August 15, 2010, Cunningham claimed that the empirical evidence did not support global warming. In 2012, he and other former astronauts and NASA employees sent a critical letter to the agency highlighting what they believed to be "unproven assertions that man-made carbon dioxide was a major factor in global warming." == Organizations ==

Cunningham was an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, fellow of the American Astronautical Society, and member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, American Geophysical Union, Explorers Club, Sigma Pi Sigma and Sigma Xi, Association of Space Explorers, CO2 Coalition, Houston American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, Aviation Subcommittee, Houston Chamber of Commerce, Earth Awareness Foundation, and National Association of Small Business Investment Companies. == Awards and honors ==

Cunningham was a recipient of numerous national and international honors, including: • NASA Distinguished Service Medal • AIAA Haley Astronautics Award, 1969 • U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 • Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame, inducted in 2003 == In popular culture ==

In the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, Cunningham is portrayed by Fredric Lehne. == See also ==