Walter Cunningham
| R. Walter Cunningham | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Retired |
| Born |
March 16, 1932 Creston, Iowa, U.S. |
|
Other names
|
Ronnie Walter Cunningham |
|
Other occupation
|
Fighter pilot, physicist |
| UCLA, B.A. 1960, M.A. 1961 | |
| Rank | Colonel, USMCR |
|
Time in space
|
10d 20h 08m |
| Selection | 1963 NASA Group 3 |
| Missions | Apollo 7 |
|
Mission insignia
|
 |
| Retirement | August 1, 1971 |
| Awards |  |
Ronnie Walter Cunningham (born March 16, 1932), (Col, USMCR, Ret.), better known as Walt Cunningham, is a retired American astronaut. In 1968, he was the Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 7 mission. He was NASA's third civilian astronaut (after Neil Armstrong and Elliot See), and has also been a fighter pilot, physicist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author of The All-American Boys, lecturer, and host of the radio show Lift-off to Logic. Walter Cunningham attended UCLA.
Cunningham was born in Creston, Iowa on March 16, 1932. He graduated from Venice High School in Venice, California.
After high school, Cunningham joined the U.S. Navy in 1951, and began flight training in 1952. He served on active duty as a fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps from 1953 until 1956, flying 54 missions as a night fighter pilot in Korea. From 1956 to 1975 he served in the Marine Corps Reserve program, ultimately retiring at the rank of Colonel.
Cunningham received his B.A. with honors in 1960, and his M.A. with distinction in 1961, both in physics, from the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed all requirements save for the dissertation for a Ph.D. in physics at UCLA during his time at RAND Corporation, where he spent three years prior his NASA selection.
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