The only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, Wally Schirra, died Thursday of a heart attack at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, CA. He was 84 years old.

Schirra's NASA career began with his selection as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts in 1959 and spans the period from Americas first tentative steps into space to the missions to the moon.

Flying on the fifth Mercury flight in 1962, Schirra orbited the Earth six times. In 1965, he commanded Gemini 6A, a flight with Tom Stafford that had the historic distinction of being the first rendezvous of two manned, maneuverable spacecraft. Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 flew in formation for five hours, as close as one foot to one another. He also commanded Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo flight. During that 11-day flight in Earth orbit in 1968, he and fellow crewmembers Walt Cunningham and Donn Eisele tested the Apollo systems and proved it was ready to take astronauts to the moon.

"With the passing of Wally Schirra, we at NASA note with sorrow the loss of yet another of the pioneers of human spaceflight," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said. "As a Mercury astronaut, Wally was of a member of the first group of astronauts to be selected, often referred to as the Original Seven."

Image Credit: NASA