NASA at Midway

Astronaut John Glenn at Midway
Before becoming an Astronaut, John Glenn was once stationed at Midway Island as a pilot of a F4U Corsair, while in the Marines.

October 3rd, 1962 – Midway hosts another Astronaut and his space capsule.  
Walter “Wally” Marty Schirra Jr. – Mercury Atlas 8 (MA-8, also Sigma 7) was the third manned orbital flight of the Mercury program. The pilot was Walter M. Schirra, Jr. The capsule reentered after completing six orbits, landing 440 km northeast of Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean, about 8.2 km from the prime recovery ship, aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CVS-33) “Mighty Kay,”. The duration of the flight was 9 hours 13 minutes and 11 seconds during which Schirra travelled over 230,000 km. The Capsule was transferred to a tugboat USS Topenebee (YTB-373) to Midway Island then was loaded on for its return transit to Cape Canaveral aboard a Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

Space Capsule at Midway
1962

Space Capsule at Midway
1962

Space Capsule at Midway
1962

Space Capsule Recovery
1962

Space Capsule at Midway

Space Capsule at Midway

Astronaut John Glenn at Midway

Astronauts at Midway

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