Wally Schirra was an American astronaut and one of the original seven astronauts selected for the Mercury program. Born on March 12, 1923, in Hackensack, New Jersey, he flew in three different space programs: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Schirra was known for his calm demeanor and technical expertise, making significant contributions to the early days of human spaceflight. He made history by being the only astronaut to fly in all three programs, with his most notable mission being Apollo 7 in 1968, which was the first crewed flight of the Apollo program. Schirra retired from NASA in 1969 and passed away on May 3, 2007.