Authors:
- Combines complete biographical detail about Schirra with a description of his Mercury mission
- Adds to Colin Burgess's sequence of books covering the complete Mercury flights
- Based on extensive primary source research, including archival photos
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Springer Praxis Books (PRAXIS)
Part of the book sub series: Space Exploration (SPACEE)
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Colin Burgess offers a comprehensive yet personal look at the 1962 orbital mission of Wally Schirra aboard the spacecraft Sigma 7, the first book about this popular pioneering astronaut which explores his entire life and accomplishments. This continues the Pioneers in Early Spaceflight series, the volumes of which form an excellent record of Project Mercury's pioneering early phase of the Space Age.
Schirra’s pre-NASA life is examined, as well as his training as a NASA astronaut and for his Mercury MA-8 flight. The 6-orbit flight of Sigma 7 is fully covered from its origins through to the spacecraft’s safe recovery from the ocean after a highly successful Mercury mission. Schirra’s participation on the Gemini 6 and Apollo 7 missions is also told, but in brief, and the book also relates his post-NASA life and activities through to his passing in 2007. The Mercury Seven occupy a unique spot in the history of human spaceflight, and Schirra is atlast given his due as one of the contributing astronauts in this painstakingly researched book.
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Authors and Affiliations
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Bangor, Australia
Colin Burgess
About the author
Colin Burgess’s first book, “The Diggers of Colditz” was published simultaneously in the U.K. and Australia in 1985. His next few books were on the Australian prisoner-of –war experience and then he turned his efforts to writing about his principal interest: human space exploration. Colin has written a number of books on the subject for the University of Nebraska Press and Springer-Praxis. The books he has written or co-authored for Springer-Praxis are “NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts,” “Animals in Space,” “The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team,” “Selecting the Mercury Seven,” “Moon Bound,” “Freedom 7,” “Liberty Bell 7,” “Friendship 7,” and “Aurora 7”. Colin also wrote a new book on the Interkosmos program along with co-author Bert Vis, and is preparing a history of NASA’s Group 5 and 7 astronauts with co-author David J. Shayler. In addition, he is the series editor and sometimes author for the Outward Odyssey series of books on the social history of space exploration for the University of Nebraska Press.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Sigma 7
Book Subtitle: The Six Mercury Orbits of Walter M. Schirra, Jr.
Authors: Colin Burgess
Series Title: Springer Praxis Books
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27983-1
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-27982-4Published: 09 June 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-27983-1Published: 28 May 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 298
Number of Illustrations: 144 b/w illustrations, 82 illustrations in colour
Topics: Popular Science in Astronomy, Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics), Aerospace Technology and Astronautics, History of Science