Walter Cunningham

Ronnie Walter Cunningham (March 16, 1932 – January 3, 2023) was an American astronaut, fighter pilot, physicist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author of the 1977 book The All-American Boys. NASA's third civilian astronaut (after Neil Armstrong and Elliot See), he was a lunar module pilot on the Apollo 7 mission in 1968.

Early life, education and military career
Cunningham was born in Creston, Iowa, on March 16, 1932. 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 until joining the U.S. Navy in 1951. He began flight training in 1952 and 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. Armistice discussions were still ongoing when Cunningham initially left for Korea, and the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed just before he arrived. From 1956 to 1975, he served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, ultimately retiring at the rank of colonel.

Cunningham married the former Lo Ella Irby of Norwalk, California, and had two children, Brian and Kimberley. Walter and Lo Ella eventually divorced. In addition to his sister and his children, he was survived by his second wife, retired Houston businesswoman Dorothy "Dot" Cunningham.

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. The flight carried no Lunar Module and Cunningham was responsible for all spacecraft systems except launch and navigation. The crew kept busy with myriad system tests, including successfully completed test firing of the service module engine and measuring the accuracy of the spacecraft systems. Following the mission, Cunningham went on to head up the Skylab branch of the Flight Crew Directorate and 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. In 1977, he published The All-American Boys, a reminiscence of his astronaut days. 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. He became a radio talk-show host and public speaker, worked as a consultant to start-up technology companies, and was chairman of the Texas Aerospace Commission.

Death
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 2010, Cunningham published a short book titled "Global Warming: Facts versus Faith". 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
 * NASA Exceptional Service Medal
 * AIAA Haley Astronautics Award, 1969
 * UCLA Professional Achievement Award, 1969
 * Special Trustees Award, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmy Award), 1969
 * Medal of Valor, American Legion, 1975
 * Outstanding American Award, American Conservative Union, 1975
 * Listed in Who's Who
 * George Haddaway Award, 2000
 * Houston Hall of Fame
 * International Space Hall of Fame, inducted in 1983
 * U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997
 * Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame, inducted in 2003
 * International Air & Space Hall of Fame, San Diego Air & Space Museum, inducted in 2011.
 * National Aviation Hall of Fame, Inducted in 2018.

In popular culture
In the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, Cunningham is portrayed by Fredric Lehne.