Walter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from the first crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program, has died at the age of 90.
NASA confirmed Cunningham's death in a press release, saying that the former astronaut passed away early Tuesday morning in Houston. Cunningham's family further reiterated his passing in a statement to The Associated Press, saying he had "died in the hospital of natural causes."
"Walt Cunningham was a fighter pilot, physicist, and an entrepreneur – but, above all, he was an explorer," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. "NASA will always remember his contributions to our nation's space program and sends our condolences to the Cunningham family."
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Cunningham's first — and only — journey into space came when he piloted Apollo 7 in 1968, which became the first manned spaceflight of the Apollo program.
While Apollo 7 remains one of the lesser-known missions of the era, the mission was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the first moon landing during Apollo 11, which would occur less than a year later. Cunningham's mission was also the resumption of NASA's human spaceflight efforts following the deaths of three astronauts during a launch test of Apollo 1 less than two years prior.
Born in Creston, Iowa in 1932, Cunningham would fly over 50 missions as a fighter pilot during the Korean War before NASA selected him as an astronaut in 1963. He was on the prime crew for the cancelled Apollo 2 and the backup crew for the ill-fated Apollo 1 before eventually being assigned to Apollo 7.
